European Renal Genome Project (EuReGene),funded by the European union,is to create a three-dimensional (3D) kidney atlas incorporating the latest knowledge about the development and diseases of the kidney. The primary aim of the researchers is to map key genes that play a major role in these processes in order to improve the diagnosis and therapy of renal diseases and to reduce the high cost of treatment.
The effort is coordinated by the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch. “The kidney is a prototype organ for such an atlas project”, said Prof. Thomas Willnow, coordinator of the EU project at the MDC. He also is convinced that this kidney atlas will have an important impact on our future understanding of the underlying causes of renal diseases, including common metabolic disorders, which lead to kidney damage such as diabetes.
In Europe,about 4.5 million people suffer from renal disease and 225,000 patients are on dialysis.On an average the patients wait for 40 months on dialysis for a renal Transplant,of which 20 percent die each year because organ shortages.
The elderly are disproportionately affected, as the disease frequently develops with increasing incidence of hypertension and diabetes.Also children,are born with congenital renal anomalies.
Against this back drop the project promises to be a great boon,to the renal failure patients.
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