Ahh CRP, Genotyping is such sweet superstition!

Recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association an article Entitled Genetic Loci Associated with CRP levels and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease…… Long name, useful article…….

Why so useful?

Because it proves quite a point.

What is that point?

In most genetic associations the causal relationships are not proven. These studies are merely associations….. Much like what I like to call superstition…… Perhaps you have heard of some of these?
If you spill salt and then throw it over your opposite shoulder you will avoid bad luck

If you break a mirror you have seven years of bad luck

If the cows are sitting down, it’s going to rain.

Don’t leave a fan on in a closed room or it will suffocate the occupants

Don’t allow a cat to be in the room with a baby or it will suffocate the baby

I could go on here, but I think you get the point. There are millions of observations in this world which are so strong that they get carried on through folklore as if they are correct associations.

I am concerned that this genetic exceptionalism which is in the press and with the DTC genomics companies may create a whole new level of superstition……..

“If you have SNP x then you will get disease Y…………some of the time”

And it will be self fulfilling……trust me, you will see cases of this coming true being published as anecdotal reports, which will only strengthen this superstition about SNPs and maybe even other genetic findings like CNVs or other rare changes…..

This is why I laugh with associations without biology worked out…….

This is precisely what our ancestors did when the kept the sword which wounded them in a cool place to reduce the inflammation of the wound…….

Frankly, I think that using SNPs in this fashion is the EXACT SAME THING…….

So these people who are considered early adopters and are “cutting edge” here with 23andSergey scans or CEOs of DTC companies are actually nothing more than CAVE DWELLERS…….

This study in JAMA shows a smiliar finding. CRP also known as C-reactive protein is associated with increased risk of heart disease………….there are certain SNPs which are also associated with elevated CRP levels…..so using rat brain thinking, we postulate that the SNPs must ALSO be linked with increased risk of heart disease……. WRONG!!!!

rs6700896, rs4537545, rs7553007, rs1183910 and rs4420638 contribute nothing to risk for heart disease, but are significantly linked with elevated CRP…..

Which goes to show that there is a problem which cannot be solved by our current mode of thinking. Because there is a problem with the way in which we think.

And those who huddle together telling stories about there genome scans are nothing more than cave people exchanging superstitions………

The Sherpa Says: Stick to the science, look for biological explanations and then look for clinical application. Without those things, you have nothing better than a divining rod people! Didn’t someone call them Saliva Diviners? HT Misha. Oh, and Francis, Told Ya So in 2008!