WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have identified a handful of genes that increase the risk of developing Crohn's disease, confirming that the often debilitating inflammatory bowel disease has a strong genetic component.

U.S. and Canadian researchers scanned the entire genome -- all 22,000 genes -- of about 6,000 people. Approximately half had Crohn's disease and half did not, they reported in the medical journal Nature Genetics.

Previous studies identified two genes involved in the disease.

"I think at this point we have probably up to about eight or nine genes, depending on how you define it," said Dr. John Rioux of the Montreal Heart Institute and the Universite de Montreal, who led the team of investigators.
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