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medpundit |
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Thursday, April 17, 2003The disease was first identified in 1886, but Brown said it has been difficult to study because "there are only a handful or so alive at one time." He said about one patient with progeria is born each year in the United States. Collins and his co-authors found the mutation on a gene called lamin A in DNA specimens from 18 of 20 progeria patients. A similar study, appearing in the journal Science, found the gene mutation in two progeria patients. Collins said that disease is not genetically inherited but develops in each patient. He said there is a suggestion that the progeria gene is transferred to the embryo through a flaw in the genes of the father's sperm. The flaw, he said, was a substitution of single DNA base. The amino acid guanine is switched to adenine. Amazing how much harm just one switch can do. posted by Sydney on 4/17/2003 07:55:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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