Within the framework of the Russian Congress on Clinical Pharmacogenetics, a section dedicated to the memory of Oleg Balanovsky, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences was held with the participation of employees of the Research Centre for Medical G

Within the framework of the Russian Congress on Clinical Pharmacogenetics, a section dedicated to the memory of Oleg Balanovsky, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences was held with the participation of employees of the Research Centre for Medical Genetics
On February 4-5, 2022, the first Russian Congress dedicated to the issues of clinical pharmacogenetics was held at the Russian Medical Academy of Continuing Professional Education.

One of the sections of the congress named "Ethnopharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenetic Atlas of Russia" was dedicated to the memory of Oleg Balanovsky, Russian geneticist, Doctor of Biological Science, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

One of the moderators of this section was Elena Balanovskaya, Doctor of Biological Science, Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Population Genetics of the Research Centre for Medical Genetics.

Professor Elena Balanovskaya spoke about the results of the latest article published in Science and dedicated to the evolution of the hepatitis B virus, with co-authorship of Oleg Balanovsky, Doctor of Biological Science, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The article presented the analysis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) samples in the bone remains of 137 ancient individuals from Eurasia and America. It was possible to trace the spread of the virus in Eurasia to about 10 thousand years ago; its further penetration into Africa and Australia; the spread of another variant of the virus to the Americas. Two Mesolithic HBV variants have been identified in Eurasia, then their replacement in the Neolithic by a variant of a different origin was discovered, as well as the emergence of new variants, -  some of which make up the modern HBV variety.

In addition, Professor Elena Balanovskaya presented a report within the framework of the section, which was dedicated to the creation of the Pharmacogenetic Atlas of the Peoples of Russia. The need for such an atlas is due to the fact that most pharmacogenetic studies are carried out on European populations, and their results may not be always applicable to other populations. At the same time, differences in the spectrum and frequencies of pharmacogenetic markers can be very large in the Russian population.

In the report of Elena Balanovskaya it was demonstrated that Northern Eurasia presents maximal genetic diversity among all regions of the world, and the picture of this diversity is surprisingly similar to the picture of the Paleolithic diversity of material cultures; which brings us to conclusion that the roots of modern genetic diversity go back to the Paleolithic. The Biobank of Northern Eurasia holds 30,000 DNA samples from more than 300 indigenous populations collected over quarter century of expeditions across this vast region. This unique collection of DNA samples permits the laboratory staff to create a crosslink between population genetics and pharmacogenetics.

Mapping of data on marker frequencies was carried out at three levels: Northern Eurasia, the whole world, and individual regions. Elena Balanovskaya presented maps of the frequencies for several pharmacogenetic markers, demonstrating different geographical patterns of frequency distribution.

The report also presented a study of the spread of genetic markers associated with the severe course of COVID-19 in the populations of Russia and the world. A significant correlation was found between the frequency of one of the risk alleles and mortality rates among patients with COVID-19. It has been noted that a characteristic pattern of distribution of these markers in the indigenous population of Russia is a decrease in their frequency from west to east.

More information about the materials of the congress can be found here.