KARACHI, Jan 29: Three young Pakistani researchers, two of them final year medical students, are busy in breaking fresh grounds in the area of genetic research. Led by a professor with a doctorate of science from the prestigious University Louis Pasteur, they have contributed papers to internationally-recognized research journals and chapters to books published abroad.

So said a spokesperson for the Aga Khan University (AKU) on Thursday at a press briefing. Introducing their work, she said they had managed to discover three genes for high blood pressure, besides constructing a DNA bank of more than 600 samples taken from sufferers of stroke. Two Pakistani mutations that cause a rare genetic disease were also discovered by them.

Talking to journalists, Dr Philippe M. Frossard, who leads the team of researchers in their quest for new knowledge, observed that the Pakistani students were a talented lot.

Dr Frossard, Professor and Chairman of the AKU's Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, said his university was unique in that medical students were in many ways leading the research initiative.

He praised the two students involved in his projects - Danish Saleheen and Usman Ahmed. Dr Frossard was of the view that discovering genes for high blood pressure could help the scientists predict whether a person would be hypertensive at a certain age. "Scientists are also developing some tests with which to determine if a certain person had these genes."

Genetically speaking, the Pakistani population may be predisposed to hypertension and other cardiac problems. Dr Mohammad Saeed, who works for the AKU as an instructor, told the reporters that the aim of their programme was to study the genetic characteristics of complex disorders. "Though we are studying diabetes and strokes also but our focus area at the moment is cardiac problems."

He told journalists that most of the samples had been taken from the people admitted to the AKUH for their treatment. Usman Ahmed, a final year medical student, was of the opinion that laws should be formulated in the country to deal with ethical issues in genetic testing. Danish Saleheen, the other final year students involved in the project, said he had worked for a few months at the Harvard University.