Under the direction of the Miller School of Medicine from the University of Miami. 84 international research teams from 13 countries participated in the research. The study was conducted using the so-called ImmunoChip, which was developed for studying autoimmune diseases. Researchers from the International MS Genetics Consortium used the ImmunoChip platform to analyse the genetic material of 29,300 individuals with MS and 50,794 unrelated healthy controls.

Studies with twins and adopted children had already shown that the risk of developing multiple sclerosis primarily depends on genetic risk factors. The new results now double the number of known MS loci, but also emphasise also the significance of the immune system for the development of multiple sclerosis.

The researchers have published their study online in the journal Nature Genetics:
http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ng.2770.html

More information (in German):
http://idw-online.de/pages/de/news554176
http://www.kompetenznetz-multiplesklerose.de/de/presse

The researchers have published their study online in the journal Nature Genetics:
http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ng.2770.html