Genetic variant

rs371369583 a variant in the ASXL1 gene

rs371369583 is a single-letter difference in the ASXL1 gene, on chromosome 20. ClinVar, the public archive of variant interpretations, lists it as likely pathogenic: probably able to cause or contribute to disease. 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 rs371369583 is the catalogue number of one of them, in the ASXL1 gene. Which letters you carry there — one copy from each parent — is your genotype.

ASXL1 (ASXL transcriptional regulator 1): This gene is similar to the Drosophila additional sex combs gene, which encodes a chromatin-binding protein required for normal determination of segment identity in the developing embryo. The protein is a member of the Polycomb group of proteins, which are necessary for the maintenance of stable repression of homeotic and other loci.

Gene description from NCBI Gene

Why might it matter?

ClinVar records this variant as likely pathogenic, meaning probably able to cause or contribute to disease. 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.

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 rs371369583, 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
rs371369583
Gene
ASXL1
Position
chr20:32434485
ClinVar classification
Pathogenic/Likely pathogenic

Sources