Genetic variant

rs20455 a variant in the KIF6 gene

rs20455 is a single-letter difference in the KIF6 gene, on chromosome 6. ClinVar, the public archive of variant interpretations, lists it as drug response: linked to how the body handles certain medicines. It has been reported in connection with pravastatin response - Efficacy. 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 rs20455 is the catalogue number of one of them, in the KIF6 gene. Which letters you carry there — one copy from each parent — is your genotype.

KIF6 (kinesin family member 6): This gene encodes a member of a family of molecular motors which are involved in intracellular transport of protein complexes, membrane organelles, and messenger ribonucleic acid along microtubules. Kinesins function as homodimeric molecules with two N-terminal head domains that move along microtubules and two C-terminal tail domains that interact with the transported cargo, either directly or indirectly, through ada…

Gene description from NCBI Gene

rs20455, often called Arg719 or 719Arg, is a reasonably well studied SNP in the KIF6 gene. The risk ...

From SNPedia

Why might it matter?

ClinVar records this variant as drug response, meaning linked to how the body handles certain medicines. 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 rs20455, 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
rs20455
Gene
KIF6
Position (GRCh38)
chr6:39357301
Variant type
snv
Consequence
missense variant
ClinVar classification
drug response

How common the less frequent letter is

gnomAD ALL
62.4%
1kG AFR
14.6%
1kG ALL
54%
1kG AMR
66.6%
1kG EAS
52.4%
1kG EUR
36.3%
1kG SAS
54.1%

Sources