Markers / Gene
IL6R
One position in this gene is readable from a home DNA test.
The interleukin-6 receptor, and a drug target found by genetics
rs2228145 · chr1:154,426,970 · A/C · evidence: established
IL-6 is a central inflammation signal. This variant shifts receptors off cell surfaces into the blood, which dampens the signal, and carriers have a slightly lower risk of coronary heart disease. That finding is a large part of why IL-6 blockade was pursued as a heart drug at all.
| If you carry | What it means |
|---|---|
| No copies | You have the common version on both copies |
| One copy | You carry one copy |
| Two copies | You carry two copies |
| Ancestry group | C (the effect version) | |
|---|---|---|
| African | 8.7% | |
| American | 53.6% | |
| East Asian | 32.3% | |
| European | 36.0% | |
| South Asian | 30.0% |
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, via Ensembl, retrieved 2026-09-23. These groupings are coarse and flatten a great deal of internal diversity, particularly within Africa. A variant being common somewhere tells you where a piece of your ancestry probably comes from, and nothing else.
Where this gene fits
If you have taken a home DNA test, these positions are already in your file.
Read my file