Genetics

This blog post examines recent genome-wide association research exploring the genetic determinants of Multiple Sclerosis susceptibility in individuals of South Asian and African ancestry living in the United Kingdom. By integrating a newly established multi-ancestry MS cohort with UK Biobank controls, the study demonstrates that the Major Histocompatibility Complex remains the dominant genetic risk locus across populations, while also revealing important differences in allele frequencies, effect sizes, and polygenic risk score performance relative to European-ancestry populations. The findings highlight both the shared biological underpinnings of MS across ancestries and the limitations of Eurocentric genetic models, underscoring the urgent need for large-scale, diverse genomic studies to enable equitable risk prediction and mechanistic insight.