00:03multiple sclerosis or ms is a debilitating disease marked by the body's immune system attacking the
00:09protective layering around the nerves this causes a disruption between the brain and the rest of the
00:14body resulting in pain loss of vision and impaired motor function researchers have long known that a
00:19gene variant that increases the risk of ms was three times higher amongst northern europeans
00:24but no one knew why or how it was passed along however using recent dna sequences from ancient
00:29genomes from tens of thousands of years of human history they might finally have an idea researchers
00:35discovered that the gene first entered europe from a region including ukraine southwest russia and west
00:40kazakhstan they discovered that the ms gene was positively selected wherever it went which means
00:45it likely had some form of utility despite the disease's eventual debilitation the best guess
00:50is that because ms is the result of an overactive immune system it likely protected humans with the
00:55gene by preventing other illnesses that would have killed them at a much younger age with one of the
01:00researchers neuroimmunologist lars fuger saying about it this means we can now understand and seek
01:06to treat ms for what it actually is the result of a genetic adaptation to certain environmental
01:11environmental conditions that occurred back in our prehistory
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