Project description:The Amish and Hutterites are U.S. farming populations with remarkably similar lifestyles. However, the Amish follow traditional farming practices, while the Hutterites employ modern farming techniques, and also show striking differences in asthma prevalence. Little is known about immune responses underlying these differences. To address this, we obtained genome-wide gene expression data in peripheral blood leukocytes from Amish and Hutterite schoolchildren.
Project description:The Amish and Hutterites are U.S. farming populations with remarkably similar lifestyles. However, the Amish follow traditional farming practices, while the Hutterites employ modern farming techniques, and also show striking differences in asthma prevalence. Little is known about immune responses underlying these differences. To address this, we obtained genome-wide gene expression data in peripheral blood leukocytes from Amish and Hutterite schoolchildren. The study includes data from whole blood samples from age- and sex-matched Amish and Hutterite schoolchildren. Written consent was obtained from the parents and written assent was obtained from the children. One mL of whole blood was drawn into a TruCulture tube containing media alone, and incubated upright on a dry heat block at 37°C for 30 hours. Cells were isolated and total RNA was extracted using Qiagen AllPrep DNA/RNA Mini Kits. RNA concentration was assayed with a Nanodrop ND-100 Sepectrophotometer; RNA quality was assessed with an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer. Samples underwent cDNA synthesis and were then hybridized on the Illumina HumanHT-12 v4 Expression BeadChip arrays at the Functional Genomics Core at the University of Chicago.
