A project to collect African American genes will use Affymetrix technology. In a partnership between Howard University and Boston University, scientists will hunt for genes related to obesity, hypertension and metabolic syndrome. The new study has an unspecified number of patients but is nonetheless fascinating just because the lead investigators think they can finish the first phase in a year. There is a video press release on the Affymetrix website, but you’ll need a special username and password from Affymetrix to view it.

Charles Rotimi, Ph.D., director of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University and current president of the African Society of Human Genetics, and Michael Christman, Ph.D., chair of the Genetics and Genomics Department at Boston University, will lead the study. The initial phase of the project will take less than a year and the team is hoping to secure additional funding to expand the study to include additional unique African cohorts.

“African Americans tend to have a higher frequency of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome than European Americans,” said Dr. Rotimi. “Through this first study, we hope to determine the genes associated with these complex diseases and discover how they may interact with different environmental factors, so we can develop more effective treatments for all Americans and people around the world.”