Genetic variant

rs139868987 a variant in the HSPA1L gene

rs139868987 is a single-letter difference in the HSPA1L gene, on chromosome 6. ClinVar, the public archive of variant interpretations, lists it as association: seen more often in people with a condition, which is not the same as causing it. It has been reported in connection with Inflammatory bowel disease 1. Carrying it does not, on its own, mean you have or will develop any condition.

What is this?

Your DNA is a long sequence of four letters. At a few million positions, people commonly differ by a single letter; each of those positions is called a SNP (“snip”), and rs139868987 is the catalogue number of one of them, in the HSPA1L gene. Which letters you carry there — one copy from each parent — is your genotype.

HSPA1L (heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 1 like): This gene encodes a 70kDa heat shock protein. In conjunction with other heat shock proteins, this protein stabilizes existing proteins against aggregation and mediates the folding of newly translated proteins in the cytosol and in organelles.

Gene description from NCBI Gene

Why might it matter?

ClinVar records this variant as association, meaning seen more often in people with a condition, which is not the same as causing it. A classification describes the variant, not you: what it means for one person depends on their genotype, their family history and often on other genes and circumstances.

Conditions it has been reported with

Listed in ClinVar submissions for this variant. Being listed is a report of an association, not a statement that the variant causes the condition in any given person.

Do I have this variant?

If you have taken a consumer DNA test (23andMe, AncestryDNA and similar), you can download its raw data file and check. Create a free account, upload the file, and this page will show the letters you carry at rs139868987, if your test read this position.

Connect this with your blood results

A gene is a fixed instruction; a blood test shows what your body is doing now. CheckMyBloods reads the two side by side, so a variant can be set against the markers it could plausibly affect.

Blood markers do not diagnose a genetic condition, and a variant does not explain a blood result on its own. Together, with symptoms and family history, they give a clinician context.

What should I do next?

  1. Find out whether you carry it. Reading about a variant says nothing about you until you know your genotype.
  2. Put it in context. Add your blood results, so the variant can be read against what your body is doing.
  3. Ask questions. Dr. Hemsworth, our AI assistant, can explain this variant and your results in plain English.
  4. Take anything that worries you to a professional. A GP or genetic counsellor can order a confirmatory test and interpret it with your history.

This page is general information drawn from public research databases. It cannot diagnose anything, and it is not a substitute for advice from a doctor or genetic counsellor who knows your history.

Technical details

dbSNP ID
rs139868987
Gene
HSPA1L
Position (GRCh38)
chr6:31811172
Variant type
snv
Consequence
missense variant
ClinVar classification
association

How common the less frequent letter is

gnomAD ALL
0%
1kG AFR
100%
1kG ALL
100%
1kG AMR
100%
1kG EAS
100%
1kG EUR
99.9%
1kG SAS
100%

Sources