Researchers in Trinity College Dublin have taken part in groundbreaking research that has discovered genes linked to coeliac disease.
In collaboration with scientists in the UK and the Netherlands they have discovered seven gene regions linked to causing the disease.
The findings have just been published in the world leading science journal Nature Genetics.
Coeliac disease is a condition in which the intestine has an abnormal immune reaction to the wheat protein gluten.
Sufferers of the disease have to avoid all foodstuffs containing wheat, barley and rye flour.
Europe, and in particular Ireland, has an extremely high incidence of the disease with up to one in every 100 people susceptible to developing the condition.
This research has identified seven new gene regions predisposing to coeliac disease.
Of particular importance is that the research found that four of these gene regions are also implicated in a predisposition to Type 1 Diabetes, the type which occurs from birth, indicating that these discoveries may have broad implications for a range of inflammatory or autoimmune diseases.
The TCD team hope the findings will lead to new treatments for coeliac disease as well as related conditions.
