11th October 2009

Blood counts are clues to human disease


Profile of shared disease susceptibility in a region of chromosome 12.

Profile of shared disease susceptibility in a region of chromosome 12.




"This study has been made possible by a great collaboration of scientists from the UK and Germany, and the contribution of clinical colleagues working in the field of heart disease, diabetes and coeliac disease in the UK, Germany and the United States and Finland." explains Dr Nicole Soranzo, group leader at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and co-lead of the HaemGen consortium. "This unique collaboration has allowed us to discover novel genetic determinants of blood cell parameters, providing important insights into novel biological mechanisms underlying the formation of blood cells by the blood stem cells and their role in disease."



" This unique collaboration has allowed us to discover novel genetic determinants of blood cell parameters, providing important insights into novel biological mechanisms underlying the formation of blood cells by the blood stem cells and their role in disease in the UK, Germany, the United States and Finland."

Dr Nicole Soranzo





"We have uncovered a novel variant linking platelet counts with heart attacks," explains Nicole Soranzo. "Further characterisation of the regions uncovered in this study has the potential to improve our understanding how blood cell development is linked with human diseases, including blood cell cancers."

Dr Soranzo has an honorary appointment at the Department of Twin Research, Kings College and is also joint lead author on a second study into haematological parameters published on the same day in Nature Genetics.

Notes to Editors

Publication details


    Soranzo N, Spector TD, Mangino M, Kühnel B, Rendon A, Teumer A, Willenborg C, Wright B, Chen L, Li M, Salo P, Voight BF, Burns P, Laskowski RA, Xue Y, Menzel S, Altshuler D, Bradley JR, Bumpstead S, Burnett MS, Devaney J, Döring A, Elosua R, Epstein SE, Erber W, Falchi M, Garner SF, Ghori MJ, Goodall AH, Gwilliam R, Hakonarson HH, Hall AS, Hammond N, Hengstenberg C, Illig T, König IR, Knouff CW, McPherson R, Melander O, Mooser V, Nauck M, Nieminen MS, O'Donnell CJ, Peltonen L, Potter SC, Prokisch H, Rader DJ, Rice CM, Roberts R, Salomaa V, Sambrook J, Schreiber S, Schunkert H, Schwartz SM, Serbanovic-Canic J, Sinisalo J, Siscovick DS, Stark K, Surakka I, Stephens J, Thompson JR, Völker U, Völzke H, Watkins NA, Wells GA, Wichmann HE, Van Heel DA, Tyler-Smith C, Thein SL, Kathiresan S, Perola M, Reilly MP, Stewart AF, Erdmann J, Samani NJ, Meisinger C, Greinacher A, Deloukas P, Ouwehand WH and Gieger C

    Nature genetics 2009;41;11;1182-90

Additional Research

  • Multiple loci influence erythrocyte phenotypes in the CHARGE Consortium.


    Nature genetics 2009;41;11;1191-8



Participating Centres

A full list of participating centres is available at the Nature Genetics website.

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute



The Wellcome Trust



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