Professor Chris Pugh tells us about the links between genetics, renal disease and oxygen sensing.
The kidney plays a central role in our metabolism, by controlling various physiological balances. Genetics plays an important role in renal disease since gene defects lead to all sorts of malfunctions. Prof. Chris Pugh is working on the oxygen sensing functions of the body; whilst these were discovered in the context of erythropoietin production the underlying system controls about 1000 genes.