Research:

The Genetic Basis of Lactase Persistence In Sudanese Populations:

Lactase persistence is a heritable  autosomal dominant condition, results in a sustained  ability to digest the milk sugar lactose throughout the adulthood. The ancestral state of this dominant Mendelian trait is lactase non-persistence in which lactase activity decline in mammals after weaning. The expression of lactase is polymophic in  adult human, this is an unusual genetically determined as regulatory polymorphism with large differencies in allele frequency in human populations and is controlled by a cis-acting regulatory element. Lactase persistence ferquency varies in different human populations being msot frequent in Northern Europeans and certain African and Arabian nomadic tribes who have  a history of drinking fresh milk. Selection is likely to have played an important role in establishing these different frequencies since the development of agricutural pastoralism within 6000-9000 years ago. Recently a point mutation was idetified in a regulatory region upstream from the lactase gene that is 100% correlated with lactase persistence among Northern Europeans (Enattah, et al 2002).

    Sudan is the largest African country, located in east Africa has long been the home land of ancient pastoral traditions practiced by different groups in Sudan. We aim to study the distribution of this trait in our Sudanese populations.

On going research:

The genetic basic of lactase persistence in Sudanese population (Maha M. Osman).