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Variation in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes accounts for one-half of the genetic risk in type 1 diabetes (T1D), but scientists have found it challenging to pinpoint the specific variants that account for this risk. This week, a team led by Soumya Raychaudhuri and Xinli Hu of Ó³»­´«Ã½ and Brigham and Women’s Hospital published a study that used new genotype imputation methods to identify independent amino acid positions, as well as interactions within the HLA region, that account for T1D risk. Taking this approach, they found that three key amino acid positions in HLA-DQ and HLA-DR molecules drive the vast majority of T1D risk. To learn more, online in Nature Genetics.

Improved support of cloud infrastructure is essential to the delivery of the next generation of treatments for major diseases like cancer

Today in the journal Nature prominent researchers from Canada, Europe and the U.S. have made a powerful call to major funding agencies, asking them to commit to establishing a global genomic data commons in the cloud that could be easily accessed by authorized researchers worldwide.