Mayan Ancestry explains why Mexico has high diabetes rate
Type 1 diabetes is when the body attacks the cells that produce hormone insulin, and this is necessary to keep sugar levels from building up in the blood. People with type 2 diabetes have the opposite. Marta Menjivar of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and colleagues looked at the genomes of 575 Maya individuals. They paid attention to 10 genetic variants that have risk. They discovered that two of the genetic variants are oddly common in the Maya. This work could lead to personalized treatments for different ethnic groups. The Maya ancestry is difficult because there are lots of unknown risk factors. Some aren’t even genetic.
