Markers / Gene
SLC2A9
One position in this gene is readable from a home DNA test.
Uric acid, and why humans keep so much of it
rs734553 · chr4:9,923,004 · G/T · evidence: established
Most mammals break uric acid down. Our ancestors lost that enzyme, and we retain uric acid instead, which is why humans get gout and almost nothing else does. Uric acid is a useful antioxidant and may have helped store fat from fruit, but in a world of beer, sugar and meat it crystallises in joints. SLC2A9 is the kidney transporter that decides how much you keep.
| If you carry | What it means |
|---|---|
| No copies | You have the higher-urate version on both copies |
| One copy | You carry one lower-urate copy |
| Two copies | You have the lower-urate version on both copies |
| Ancestry group | T (the effect version) | |
|---|---|---|
| African | 42.7% | |
| American | 58.6% | |
| East Asian | 98.3% | |
| European | 75.5% | |
| South Asian | 77.3% |
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