Genes are located on the genetic material in the cell nucleus. In this picture, the cell nuclei are coloured red. Photo: DKFZ

Facebook for Genes

Many genes feature different variations in different people. In order to detect such variants which may increase the risk of a certain disease, scientists compare the patients' genes with those from healthy control groups. Yet the effect of certain variants in the genetic material often is dependent on whether also other genes are affected. Only the interplay of various genes leads to consequences. The method now presented by Michael Boutros, German Cancer Research Centre, and Wolfgang Huber, The European Molecular Biology Laboratory, can detect these combination effects. By way of the so-called RNA interference they deactivate genes both individually and in all paired combinations. By systematically indexing all reciprocal effects between important signalling molecules, the researchers obtain a detailed list of interaction partners for each gene, comparable to a "list of friends" within the social network "Facebook". "If two Facebook users have the same friends, it is very likely that they both know each other – even if they themselves are not friends on Facebook", explains Michael Boutros. "Transferring this notion to the situation in the genetic material, one can predict which genes have a joint function on the basis of their reciprocal effects." Thus Boutros, Huber and their colleagues now can "suggest friends", that is, genes influencing each other as regards their effect. This new method could contribute towards finding new components in signalling chains relevant to cancer and thereby enable approaches towards new cancer treatment methods.

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