"A test focused on the genetic variants, located on chromosome 9, might identify people at high risk of heart attack. About one in every four Caucasians are thought to carry the gene variants, and a test to spot those at risk could be available by the end of this year, the head of one research group said."

"The discoveries are even more interesting, because the same region has recently been strongly implicated in bumping up diabetes risk."

""This is an important finding, because it was replicated in different populations around the world," added Canadian scientist Dr. Ruth McPherson, director of the Ottawa Heart Institute's lipid clinic and lipid research laboratory, who led one research effort."

". Instead, they cite what are called "single nucleotide polymorphisms" (SNPs) -- slight variations in the sequence of units that make up the molecule of DNA that carries genetic information."

"One report, led by scientists at deCODE genetics Inc., an Icelandic biotechnology company, cites a SNP called "

"Regardless of where the study participants (all white) originated -- Canada, Iceland or the United States -- the SNPs bumped up heart risk. For example, persons carrying the SNP cited in the deCODE study had about a 60 percent raised risk for heart attack compared to non-carriers, while people carrying the two SNPs in the Canadian study had a 30 percent to 40 percent increased risk of heart disease."

"The SNPs are different, because the two groups used different versions of the chips that allowed them to parse the DNA unit by unit, McPherson explained. Her group used a chip made by one company, Affymetrix, while the other chip was made by Illumina."

"The discovery that these SNPs can impact heart risk remains puzzling, because they do not involve specific genes, McPherson said. However, they do lie near two tumor-suppressor genes known to be associated with cell proliferation, aging and death. There might be other explanations for the association, she said."

""They may be in a region that regulates the activity of genes," McPherson said. "It is possible that the region regulates genes that are a bit further away. But the finding so far does not tell us anything about their mechanism of action.""

"Still, there is "a kind of excitement about such unexpected findings that could lead to genes with entirely different pathways," McPherson said."

"Part of the excitement is that the genetic factors identified by the studies do not seem to be linked to known risk factors. That opens the possibility of new preventive measures aimed at whatever
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