Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 4, 2026

Human Dupuytren's Ex Vivo Culture for the Study of Myofibroblasts and Extracellular Matrix Interactions
Published on: April 18, 2015
Is Dupuytren's disease really a 'disease of the Vikings'?
Michael Ng1, Daniel J Lawson2, Bruce Winney3
1Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology, and Musculoskeletal Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Abstract:
It has been suggested that Dupuytren's disease has an origin in Norse countries. We harnessed data from a genome-wide association study of Dupuytren's disease and the People of the British Isles study to determine evidence for a Norse origin of Dupuytren's disease. We computed Wright's Fixation Index between Orkney (Norse ancestry), Wales (ancient British) and South East England (Anglo-Saxons); compared mean Wright's Fixation Index in cases versus controls; used permutation to determine any excess of Norse inheritance in disease associated variants; constructed a genetic risk score for Dupuytren's disease and applied this to the People of the British Isles dataset to look for systematic differences between counties with known high and low levels of Norse ancestry. Finally, chromosome painting was used to see whether Dupuytren's disease-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms are geographically structured. In all analyses, no evidence was found for an excess of Norse ancestry in Dupuytren's disease. We conclude that there is no genetic evidence for a 'Viking origin of Dupuytren's disease'.
Related Concept Videos
Connective Tissue Cell Types
Fat cells (adipocytes), smooth muscle cells (myoblasts), and bone cells (osteoblasts) are some connective tissue cell types. Some immune system cells...
Cohesins
Cohesin complexes in Meiotic Division
Meiosis involves two distinct rounds of chromosomal segregation and cell divisions— Meiosis I followed by Meiosis II – producing four daughter cells. Meiosis I includes the separation of...
Endocarditis II: Clinical Features of Infective Endocarditis
Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...
Endocarditis III: Medical Management
Desmosomes

