![]() ![]() Lactose intolerance has primarily been linked to SNPs found in the introns of the MCM6 gene which turn out to have some control over the lactase LCT gene located many thousands of base pairs away. Note that different populations differ in the SNP associated with hypolactasia, and not all SNPs associated with lactose intolerance have been discovered (yet). Lactose intolerance typically increases with age, and a reasonable percentage of individuals with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome may actually be lactose intolerant. This dominantly inherited genetic trait is known as lactase persistence the more evolutionarily "normal" lowered level of lactase can lead to the inability to digest lactose as an adult and thus lactose (and milk) intolerance. In some individuals, though, lactase activity persists at a high level throughout adult life, enabling them to digest lactose as adults. Lactase is the enzyme that digests the lactose in milk, and while there is plenty of it around in mammalian infants, including most humans, lactase activity generally declines after weaning. Lactose intolerance, technically known as hypolactasia, is frequent in many populations.
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