These characteristics include such things as hemoglobin concentration and platelet counts.

"Each human population is subject to different environments," said Lettre, a researcher at the Montreal Heart Institute.

"Over thousands of years," he said, "these environmental pressures have resulted in the progressive appearance of variations in DNA, called genetic mutations, which can influence our physical characteristics, such as skin size or color, but also our risk of getting certain diseases."

He added: "This observation (of how the environment affects how people's appearance and health vary in different parts of the world) represents the cornerstone of the theory of evolution by natural selection proposed by Charles Darwin in 1859."

The consortium founded by Lettre and his colleagues chose to study 15 characteristics of blood cells because previous studies had already uncovered mutations whose consequences were limited to certain populations.

45 million genetic mutations

By testing more than 45 million genetic variations in each participant, Lettre and his collaborators have found more than 5,000 mutations in human DNA that affect the blood characteristics of populations around the world.

Done in conjunction with another study focusing exclusively on individuals of European origin, the new study shows that the vast majority of mutations associated with blood cells were common to all five major population groups.

But aside from these, the researchers also found about 100 mutations whose effect was restricted to certain populations and which, it turns out, are not found in people of European descent.

For example, in individuals of South Asian origin, the researchers identified a mutation in the interleukin-7 gene that stimulates the secretion of this molecule and thus increases the levels of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell in the immune system) circulating in their blood.

"Of course, this kind of mutation can affect the health of people of South Asian origin," Lettre noted. "It's thought that this mutation could influence their capacity to resist certain infections or develop diseases like blood cancer."

However, he cautioned, "these are, at present, only hypotheses, as researchers do not have the capacity to test them, given the immense costs and the difficulty of finding participants for this type of study."

Media Contact
John Mathews
Journal Manager
Journal of Phlebology and Lymphology
Email: phlebology@eclinicalsci.com