WHY do our bodies often turn against themselves? It’s not just our genes that
dictate whether we’ll suffer from autoimmune diseases, scientists told the AAAS
meeting this week. Misplaced carbon atoms and human cells that invade our bodies
during pregnancy play a significant role in diseases such as arthritis and at
least one form of diabetes.
Genes influence our susceptibility to autoimmune disease, but this cannot be
the whole story. For example, if one identical twin develops multiple sclerosis,
there is less than a five per cent risk of the other doing so.
Now Denise Faustman of Harvard Medical School…
