Dec. 28, 2009 For years, scientists have tried to determine the
basis for discrepancies between race and the predisposition for
development of diseases such as type II diabetes and
cardiovascular disease. Could factors such as differences in
lifestyle or access to health care play a role, or is there
something else in play? Researchers at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine believe the latter
may be true, in part, due to a recent discovery that suggests
inherited genetic variations exist between whites and blacks
living in the U.S., leading to less efficient metabolism of
glucose and predisposition to diabetes in the blacks. "We found
gene expression profiles that suggest that carbohydrate
metabolism should be different in the African-Americans in our
population compared to Caucasians," said Cam Patterson, M.D.,
chief of cardiology and director of the McAllister Heart
Institute at UNC. The researchers made the discovery while
performing RNA and DNA analyses of blood samples take