By scouring the DNA of thousands of patients, researchers have discovered four
rare gene mutations that not only lower the levels of triglycerides but also significantly reduce a person & rsquo; s risk of coronary heart disease
Certain
rare gene mutations can contribute significantly to low levels of a beneficial form of cholesterol in the blood, researchers have found.
The individuals with
the rare gene mutations did not appear to differ from the larger population in any other ways, including in measures of blood pressure, body mass index and rates of diabetes.
I have always wondered if innovation required
some rare gene mutation, or whether I might be missing a simple formula for unlocking the ability in any intelligent business person to innovate.
A new multi-institutional study by Japanese researchers shows a potential
rare gene mutation that could act as a predictor for two neurodevelopmental disorders, schizophrenia and autism.
As is the case in many genetically - based diseases, the single
rare gene mutation that causes the problem was unknowingly spread when a normal - appearing carrier dog was used for breeding (ref)
Not exact matches
This team also discovered 3,200
genes that had fewer loss - of - function or missense
mutations than would be expected suggesting that these are likely disease - causing variants that are
rare or absent in the population because of their detrimental effect on human health.
Genetic variation can take the form of common base changes (polymorphisms) that alter
gene function or
rare base changes (
mutations) that often have highly deleterious effects.
Now, new research has found several
rare genetic
mutations on the same
gene that definitively connect the two.
The study identified yet another
mutation — albeit a
rare one — in the SCARB1
gene, also associated with elevated HDL levels, that raised coronary heart disease risk by a whopping 80 percent.
A
rare condition that causes a person be born without fingerprints can now be explained by a
mutation in a single
gene, a new analysis suggests
Last summer Rienhoff thought he had caught the culprit in a
gene called CPNE1, but he quickly discarded the possibility because the
mutation turned out to be too common to explain such a
rare disorder.
Rare mutations that shut down a single
gene are linked to lower cholesterol levels and a 50 percent reduction in the risk of heart attack, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Broad Institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, and other institutions.
In living people, a
rare mutation that causes members of a family to produce half the usual amount of FOXP2 protein also triggers severe speech defects, notes Simon Fisher, director of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, who discovered the
gene.
The two studies together suggest that single copies of inactivating ANGPTL3
mutations are found in roughly one of every 250 people of European descent, whereas people with
mutations in both copies of the
gene — as in the family studied by Musunuru and colleagues — are much
rarer.
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) led a large, international research team that has identified
gene mutations associated with a
rare congenital condition involving the absence of a nose and often accompanied by defects involving the eye and reproductive systems.
The good news is, unless you have one of the very
rare genetic
mutations that undeniably cause obesity, your
genes are just one factor in your weight profile.
The MGH investigators screened the genomes of 40 individuals with arhinia and 55 family members, from a total of 38 families, revealing
rare single - nucleotide
mutations within the SMCHD1
gene in 84 percent of affected individuals.
«
Gene mutations behind lack of a nose identified: Alterations in same gene previously associated with rare form of muscular dystrophy.&ra
Gene mutations behind lack of a nose identified: Alterations in same
gene previously associated with rare form of muscular dystrophy.&ra
gene previously associated with
rare form of muscular dystrophy.»
Nine
rare, disease - causing
mutations of the
gene, FBXL4, were found in nine affected children in seven families, including three siblings from the same family.
While this study surfaced only five families with these
rare mutations in the PKC alpha
gene, there are many ways to influence PKC alpha's activity, Newton said.
This
rare condition can be caused by
mutations in several
genes, one of which is called RPE65.
«Rsearchers crack mystery behind
rare bone disorder: Study finds
gene mutations that cause «dripping candle wax» bone disease.»
Rare, deadly, and caused by a single
gene mutation, it was a perfect proof - of - principle condition for anyone seeking to replace damaged DNA with
genes that did the job.
«This is an exciting study of a very
rare bone disorder that not only identified the responsible
mutation in half of the patients, but uncovered fundamental information about the role of a cancer - related
gene in the metabolic pathways of normal bone,» said study co-senior author Joan Marini, Ph.D., M.D., of NICHD.
Mutations in the
gene predispose to colon cancer and cancer of the uterus, and increase the risk of developing some other,
rare tumours.
The researchers conducted their studies in mice because patients with
mutations in the STIM1
gene and that of the channel it activates, ORAI1, are extremely
rare and often too sick to study due to chronic infections and lymphoproliferative disease.
But for certain infants with
rare, inherited
mutations of certain
genes, severe infection and death are stark consequences of their impaired immune responses.
Although these
mutations are relatively
rare, their discovery, reported in the January issue of Nature Genetics, could help point the way to other
genes behind inherited epilepsies, which are thought to account for about 40 % of all forms of the disease.
The NCP1
gene identified is not a known variant in humans; it is a
rare mutation to the feline population.
According to DNA analysis, those people may have inherited Yamnaya
genes that made them taller; they may also have had a then -
rare mutation that enabled them to digest lactose in milk, which quickly spread.
The study of almost 8,000 families, published today (21 March) in Nature, found for the first time that
mutations outside of
genes can cause
rare developmental disorders of the central nervous system.
By studying
rare «copy number variations,» which are individual errant insertions or deletions of DNA segments (each of which occur in less than one percent of the population), researchers discovered a new cluster of
genes that are affected in some autistic individuals as well as a number of
mutations that were present in autistic children but not their parents.
Cystic fibrosis is a
rare inherited disease caused by
mutations in a single
gene called cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and affects 1 in every 2500 newborns in the UK and over 90000 people worldwide.
Within a population, each individual
mutation is extremely
rare when it first occurs; often there is just one copy of it in the
gene pool of an entire species.
Additionally, they sequenced 68 HLHS patient samples and found one individual with
rare mutations in both SAP130 and PCDHA
genes.
The new study suggests that even
rare mutations that disable both copies of a
gene, which scientists thought would be associated with diseases, aren't necessarily a problem.
A
rare eye disorder marked by color blindness, light sensitivity, and other vision problems can result from a newly discovered
gene mutation identified by an international research team, including scientists from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).
Viruses are notorious for evading man - made drugs, but they are powerless against a
rare mutation in the
gene ISG15.
A
rare exception is the
gene known as disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), in which some
mutations have a strong effect.
The
rare form of diabetes, MODY4, is caused by a
mutation in the PDX1
gene.
Three will hunt for
mutations underlying
rare inherited diseases caused by a glitch in a single
gene.
A large number of
rare childhood diseases stem from
mutations in
genes that play an essential role in lipid synthesis.
Unlike all other chromosomes in our cells, the Y chromosome, which bears the male sex - determining
gene, is passed essentially unchanged from father to son, barring
rare mutations.
Hereditary colorectal cancers, caused by inherited
gene mutations, are relatively
rare for most patients.
But that makes it all the more puzzling that mitochondria have retained any
genes at all, especially considering that
mutations in some of those
genes can cause
rare but crippling diseases.
A previous study of a population in Iceland found that a
rare mutation in the
gene encoding TREM2 substantially elevated a person's risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Mutations in a
gene that helps regulate when
genes are switched on and off in cells have been found to cause
rare cases of Wilms tumour, the most common kidney cancer occurring in children.
Mice with a
gene mutation linked to
rare human cases of autism show a hallmark symptom of the disorder: impaired social interactions.
Even if
mutations are
rare, however, locating a
gene and its associated protein, says cardiologist Douglas Zipes of the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, «will give a major advantage» to researchers trying to unravel the biochemical triggers of the erratic electrical signals in all patients.