Friday, April 03, 2026

New study uncovers surprises in urban Peruvians

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine say the study could lead to more equitable medical research and precision treatments

University of Maryland School of Medicine

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Victor Borda, PhD, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and colleagues have published the largest study to date on the genetics of native Peruvians.
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Credit: University of Maryland School of Medicine

Baltimore, April 2, 2026: Latin American people are represented in fewer than four percent of genetic epidemiological studies around the world. When they are included, they’re often lumped together as one group, despite the rich diversity among different Latin American populations. This lack of data has impeded genetic discoveries in Latin Americans and has stalled advances in the clinical use of precision medicine.

To better understand the fine-scale ancestry of one specific Latin American population—Peruvians—researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), along with colleagues from the Peru Institute of National Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud), undertook the largest study to date to examine the genetic makeup of individuals from urban areas throughout Peru. They published their study in Communication Biology.

“We were surprised to discover that despite historical events—like the slave trade or Spanish colonization—over the past few centuries, urban Peruvians resemble more of ancient Indigenous populations from nearby regions, including the Andes and the Amazon, rather than a single melting-pot population,” said lead author Victor Borda, PhD, Research Associate at the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) at UMSOM and faculty at the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing, who is also a native Peruvian.

The researchers collected blood from more than 400 volunteers in 13 regions across Peru and did genome-wide studies, examining more than two million genetic markers in each participant.

The study also showed that women were more likely to transmit Indigenous ancestry, while men contributed more European ancestry. This reflects the uneven mixing between the sexes during colonial times, when European men frequently partnered with Indigenous women, often under coercive conditions. Because the X chromosome is transmitted twice as often through females, it preserves a stronger signal of maternal Indigenous ancestry.

“This pattern is consistent with colonial social hierarchies and power dynamics and can be distinguished genetically through differences in X chromosome and autosomal ancestry,” said Timothy O’Connor, PhD, a scientist at IGS, Associate Professor of Medicine at UMSOM, and corresponding author on the paper. “Our study shows that history can be written in the genome and isn’t erased just by moving to a city.”

Most importantly, however, is the study’s potential impact on health and disease for Latin Americans, the researchers say.

“The more we understand the finest details of genetic ancestry, the easier it will be to implement true precision medicine—getting the right medicine, to the right individual, at the right time,” Dr. O’Connor said. “This is where research, like this large study, remains critical, especially in populations that tend to be put into one uniform category, such as Latin Americans or Asians, when we know there is much diversity in their genetic ancestry.”

About the Institute for Genome Sciences

The Institute for Genome Sciences' (IGS) has been part of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) since 2007. IGS scientists work in diverse areas, applying genomics and systems biology approaches to better understand health issues to create a healthier Maryland and world. Our research spans multiple areas including cancer and precision medicine; parasitic, fungal, and bacterial diseases; sexual and reproductive health; the underpinnings of aging; and neuroscience areas including brain development, addiction, and mental health IGS also remains at the forefront of high-throughput genomic technologies and bioinformatics analyses through its core facility, Maryland Genomics which provides researchers around the world with cutting-edge, collaborative, and cost-effective sequencing and analysis.

About the UM-IHC

The University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing (UM-IHC), in North Bethesda, Maryland, is the hub for health computing innovation and collaboration in Montgomery County, Maryland. UM-IHC merges the computational expertise, clinical expertise, biomedical innovation, health data and academic resources of the University of Maryland, College Park; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; and the University of Maryland Medical System to innovate health care delivery and support the Montgomery County life science community. It is a signature initiative of the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State, which provides funding support along with Montgomery County.

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

The University of Maryland School of Medicine, established in 1807 as the first public medical school in the U.S., continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world. The School has nearly $500 million total research funding, 46 departments, centers, and institutes, more than 2,200 student trainees and over 3,000 faculty members, including notable members of the National Academy of Medicine. As the largest public medical school in the DC/MD/VA region, faculty-physicians are working to help patients manage chronic diseases like obesity, cancer, heart disease and addiction, while also working on cutting-edge research to address the most critical generational health challenges. In 2024, the School ranked #12 among public medical schools and #27 among all medical schools for R&D expenditures by the National Science Foundation. With a $1.3 billion total operating budget, the School partners with the University of Maryland Medical Center to serve nearly 2 million patients annually. The School's global reach extends around the world with research and treatment facilities in 33 countries. In Maryland, the School of Medicine is spearheading new initiatives in AI and health computing and partnering with the University of Maryland BioPark to develop new medical technologies and bioengineering ventures. For more information, visit medschool.umaryland.edu.

Journal

Communications Biology

DOI

10.1038/s42003-026-09671-2

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Unraveling the genetic landscape and admixture dynamics of urban populations across Peru

Article Publication Date

2-Apr-2026

Omics consortium established to supercharge climate-adapted wheat breeding

Adelaide University

Adelaide University is leading the international Wheat Spatial Omics Consortium (WSOC) of more than 30 institutions in nine countries, which will explore how collaborative research in spatial omics technologies could improve wheat performance for growers.

Spatial omics is a suite of molecular technologies that measure and map the distribution of genes, proteins, and metabolites while preserving their native spatial context and cellular organisation, which conventional omics cannot achieve.

“Spatial transcriptomics allows us to measure the abundance of genes in specific cell types and time-points that are responsible for yield, pest and disease resistance, and abiotic stress tolerance of crops,” said Professor Zhong-Hua Chen, from Adelaide University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine and Waite Research Institute.

“Although widely applied in medical and animal sciences, the use of spatial omics in crops with large complex genomes, such as allohexaploid wheat, remains limited.

“Among our consortium members, we have the technological power to tackle this complexity across multiple tissues and stages of development.”

Professor Chen and the WSOC collaborators published a paper in Nature Genetics detailing the potential for the application of spatial omics in wheat.

“Our ambition is to build a comprehensive spatial omics atlas to benefit the whole wheat community. By mapping wheat biology at subcellular resolution across the full life cycle, the WSOC seeks to decode the integrated mechanisms of wheat development, stress response, and grain quality.” he said.

“We are producing this atlas in parallel with a set of research questions led by different groups that will allow us to tackle important issues in wheat breeding such as leaf rust resistance, root drought tolerance, and high grain quality for bread-making.

“This is an enormous task, but wheat is a globally critical crop, so improving grain yield and quality has real-world impacts for people experiencing food insecurity and malnutrition.”

Australian wheat exports are valued at more than AUD$9 billion annually, and exports from the 10 leading wheat-exporting countries is valued at more than USD$60 billion.

Professor Matthew Tucker, Director of the Waite Research Institute, said that spatial omics is a game-changing technology that revolutionises the way research is carried out.

“Technological advances of this nature don’t come along very often. We are very excited to be leading this consortium and building on the legacy of wheat research at Adelaide University,” he said.

“The omics atlas will provide opportunities to narrow down the basis for important heat-sensitive traits, such as flower fertility or grain quality, and understand which cell types are responsible for tolerance.”

Professor Jason Able, Dean of School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, said research outputs generated from this technology will contribute to the way wheat breeders consider building their next step-change variety.

“This research will enable global wheat breeders to unlock the interplay and complexity of plant neural networks and how genes respond to various biotic, abiotic, environmental and climatic factors,” he said

“Ultimately, tapping into this knowledge will create the wheat varieties of tomorrow and value-add significantly across the industry, thereby contributing to the profitability of this commodity.”

Ultra-low asparagine wheat developed using precision gene editing

Scientists have successfully developed wheat with dramatically reduced levels of asparagine, without affecting yield, offering promising route to safer food production

Rothamsted Research

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Dr Navneet Kaur with bread, toast and biscuits made from the CRISPR edited wheat
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Credit: Rothamsted Research

Scientists at Rothamsted Research have successfully developed wheat with dramatically reduced levels of asparagine, without affecting yield, using gene editing techniques, offering a promising route to safer food production and improved regulatory compliance.

Results from two years of field trials demonstrate that wheat produced using CRISPR genome editing can significantly lower concentrations of free asparagine—an amino acid that converts into acrylamide, a toxic and probably carcinogenic compound formed during everyday baking, frying, and toasting.

The study, conducted in collaboration with partners including Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology, Technical University of Munich, University of Reading, and Curtis Analytics Limited, compared CRISPR-edited wheat lines with conventionally mutagenised (TILLING) lines (wheat that had its genetic material altered through exposure to a chemical agent to create random mutations).

CRISPR editing targeted the asparagine synthetase-2 (TaASN2) gene, responsible for asparagine production. One edited line also included a partial knockout of the related TaASN1 gene. These targeted edits reduced free asparagine in the grain by 59%, and by up to 93% in the dual-edited line, without any reduction in yield.

By contrast, wheat developed using traditional TILLING methods achieved a 50% reduction in free asparagine but suffered a yield penalty of nearly 25%, likely due to unintended mutations elsewhere in the genome. The results highlight the precision and efficiency of gene editing compared with conventional approaches.

Lead researcher Dr Navneet Kaur, from Rothamsted Research, said:
“This work demonstrates the power of CRISPR technology to deliver precise, beneficial changes in crop genetics. With supportive regulatory frameworks, we can unlock significant benefits for agriculture and food systems.”

Crucially, the reduction in asparagine translated directly into lower acrylamide formation in food products. Bread and biscuits made from the edited wheat showed substantially reduced acrylamide levels, with concentrations in some bread samples falling below detectable limits, even after toasting. In contrast, evidence to date suggests that conventional breeding would be unlikely to deliver a similar improvement.

These findings are particularly timely as regulatory pressure on acrylamide intensifies. Current EU legislation (Regulation (EU) 2017/2158) sets benchmark levels for acrylamide in food, with new Maximum Levels expected from the European Commission this year. These regulations will impact food producers across Europe and international trading partners, including the UK. The research also aligns with recent policy developments for genome edited crops in England, in the form of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023.

Professor Nigel Halford from Rothamsted Research, who led the study, said:
“Low acrylamide wheat could enable food businesses to meet evolving safety standards without compromising product quality or incurring major production costs. It also offers a meaningful opportunity to reduce the dietary exposure of consumers to acrylamide.”

Low acrylamide wheat products

Field trial of the gene-edited wheat in July 2023

Credit

Rothamsted Research