Taiwanese researchers, working in collaboration with an international team, have identified eight genes that could predict the incidence of Type 2 diabetes.
Through meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies — an approach that scans complete sets of DNA or genomes in different individuals for genetic variations associated with a particular disease — of more than 50,000 people and three stages of case selection, the Asia Genetic Epidemiology Network — a consortium of researchers from Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, China and the US — was able to identify casual genes for Type 2 diabetes for East Asians, the researchers said.
The Taiwanese research team was led by professors Chen Yuan-tsong (陳垣崇) and Wu Jer-yuarn (鄔哲源), from Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, professor Chuang Lee-ming (莊立民) of National Taiwan University Hospital and professor Tsai Fuu-jen (蔡輔仁) of China Medical University Hospital.
Wu said the consortium was formed to find gene expressions for the disease that are unique to Asians, because most studies of Type 2 diabetes have focused on gene studies in Caucasians.
Wu said that the team contributed to the study by offering an analysis of the genetic data of 2,000 Taiwanese.
“There were about 360 million people with diabetes worldwide last year and it is estimated that number will rise to about 500 million in 2030,” Chuang said. “The prevalence of Taiwanese with diabetes has increased from about 4 percent in 1997 to about 6.5 percent over the past decade.”
Chuang said Type 1 diabetes, which often occurs in children, has been identified as being mainly caused by certain genes, whereas Type 2 diabetes, which more often occurs in adults, is affected by genes and environmental factors.
Wu said the eight genes identified by the research offer clues for the establishment of a model that could predict a higher occurrence rate of Type 2 diabetes, but added that more research has to be done to prove the actual casual relations between the genes and the disease.
Additional reporting by CNA
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by