TEHRAN -- Many diseases can be prevented through genetic mapping, professor of pharmaceutical science Kheirollah Gholami said, IRNA reported on Saturday.

Genetic mapping offers evidence that a disease transmitted from parent to child is linked to one or more genes and provides clues about which chromosome contains the gene and precisely where the gene lies on that chromosome.

Genetic mapping can prevent many disease and paves the way for personalized pharmacotherapy, which is according to the person’s genetic, he said.

According to genetic mapping, the physician can advise the most effective medicine with least side effects according to the patient’s genome, he added.

The lifestyle and diet of the patient can also be adjusted to his or her genetic characteristics, he said.

Genetic mapping - also called linkage mapping - have been used successfully to find the gene responsible for relatively rare, single-gene inherited disorders such as cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Genetic maps are also useful in guiding scientists to the many genes that are believed to play a role in the development of more common disorders such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and psychiatric conditions.

To produce a genetic map, researchers collect blood or tissue samples from members of families in which a certain disease or trait is prevalent. Using various laboratory techniques, the scientists isolate DNA from these samples and examine it for unique patterns that are seen only in family members who have the disease or trait.

SB/MQ/MG