Understanding the implications of mitochondrial DNA variation in the health of black Southern African populations : the 2014 workshop

Van der Westhuizen, FrancoisSinxadi, Phumla Z.Dandara, CollettSmuts, IzelleRiordan, GillianMeldau, SuritaMalik, Afshan N.Sweeney, Mary G.Tsai, YuchiaTowers, Gordon W.Louw, RoanGorman, Grainne S.Payne, BrendanSoodyall, HimlaPepper, Michael SeanElson, Joanna L.2016-02-122015-05Van der Westhuizen, F, Sinxadi, PZ, Dandara, C, Smuts, I, Riordan, G, Meldau, S, Malik, AN, Sweeney, MG, Tsai, Y, Towers, GW, Louw, R, Gorman, GS, Payne, BA, Soodyall, H, Pepper, MS & Elson, JL 2015, 'Understanding the implications of mitochondrial DNA variation in the health of black Southern African populations : the 2014 workshop', Human Mutation, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 569-571.1059-7794 (print)1098-1004 (online)10.1002/humu.22789http://hdl.handle.net/2263/51340Knowledge concerning the prevalence and severity of disease related to/associated with variations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in Black African populations lags behind that of other groups from a global perspective. Developing an understanding of the variants that cause mitochondrial disease in this population is clearly interesting from a scientific perspective, and is also of importance to health services in Africa and nations outside of the African continent with appreciable populations of African origin. In addition to identifying mtDNA mutations causing mitochondrial disease, unravelling the role of mtDNA variants in complex disease is of great relevance and will require the coming together of many emerging specialities in southern Africa. This effort will be aided if conducted in a wider collaborative manner in the context of forums such as the South African Human Genome Programme (SAHGP; http://sahgp.sanbi.ac.za), H3 Africa, and the Human Variome Project (HVP; http:// www.humanvariomeproject.org).en© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article : Understanding the implications of mitochondrial DNA variation in the health of black Southern African populations : the 2014 workshop, Human Mutation, vol. 36, no.5, pp. 569-571, 2015. doi : 10.1002/humu.22789. The definite version is available at : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1098-1004.Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)Black African populationsMitochondrial diseaseUnderstanding the implications of mitochondrial DNA variation in the health of black Southern African populations : the 2014 workshopPostprint Article