Sunday, December 16, 2012

O come all ye faithful

rs10937823 is one of the nicest gifts given to SNPedia this year. The minor rs10937823(T) allele has been associated with bipolar disorder in at least four independent studies as of last count, albeit with some inconsistency between populations as to which allele is the risk allele.

So why is it a gift?  Because of who gave it to us. SNPedia exists and expands thanks in large part to the contributions of a community of people who feel it’s important to make scientific and medical findings about the genome accessible to all. Researchers, professors, physicians, techies, homemakers, students and many more contribute.  Some are better at adding papers and p-scores, while others improve the grammar and spelling or rewrite to make the ideas accessible to a wider audience. Everyone contributes a little, and we’re all better off for it.

Our information about rs10937823 was primarily contributed by a med student in Stanford University’s Gene210 class. In this groundbreaking course from Professor Stuart Kim, students analyze their own genomes as they prepare to become doctors and researchers in a post-genome world.

Here’s a big Thank You! to our community – those who believe that if the genome matters, then getting the information out in ways that can be readily used matters too. Everytime a SNPedia page is edited an angel gets its wings.

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