An international consortium today published a third-generation map of human genetic variation, called the HapMap, which includes data from an additional seven global populations, increasing the total number to 11 populations. The improved resolution…
Scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have identified the gene responsible for two related, inherited neurological disorders, and have, for the first time, directly implicated this gene and its enzyme product in a human genetic disease.
A New jersey researcher has discovered a gene responsible for melanoma, the most aggressive form of malignant skin cancer. Melanoma may appear in places that never see sun, spread to other parts of the body and become lethal. This type of cancer is not generally responsive to chemotherapy. Cancer Institute, in the United States the incidence rate of melanoma has more than doubled in the past 20 years.
A team led by the National Human Genome Research Institute today announced the discovery of the genetic basis of a disorder that causes the most dramatic form of premature aging, a finding that promises to shed new light on the rare disease, as well as on normal human aging. In their study, to be released online next week in the journal Nature, researchers identified the genetic mutations responsible for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), commonly referred to as progeria. Derived from the Greek word for old age, “geras,” progeria is estimated to affect one in 8 million newborns worldwide. There currently are no diagnostic tests or treatments for the progressive, fatal disorder.