Editorial: “Disease-Only” Alleles and Genotypes in Complex Disorders? سرمقاله

An endeavor to identify human-specific genetic factors and their role in SCZ patients has resulted in the discov- ery of alleles and genotypes at the extreme end of Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) that occur with disease only. The Ras like without CAAX 2 gene (RIT2) is regulated by one of the longest STRs identified in a human gene core promoter, expansion of which may be of selective advantage in hu- man-specific characteristics. In line with the above no- tion, the predominant allele of the RIT2 core promoter STR is human-specific in length [2]. In contrast with the previous hypotheses that genetic factors only modify disease risk, there may be "disease- only" alleles and genotypes in complex disorders that are lacking in the control pool. * Corresponding Author: Mina Ohadi, PhD Address: Iranian Research Center on Aging, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran. The human RIT2 core promoter short tandem repeat predominant allele is spe- cies-specific in length: a selective advantage for human evolu- tion?