October 22nd, 2004
Gene Mutation Causes Parkinson's
The NIH News covers a promising development in Parkinson's research: "[a single mutation] causes Parkinson's disease in some families. Although Parkinson's disease is usually not inherited, the discovery of this gene and further study of how it works could open up new avenues of research for preventing or delaying the onset of the disease. In research, the study of rare familial forms of a disease has often led to major insights into the pathogenesis of more common forms." The past few years have demonstrated the power of modern bioinformatics: once you have identified a genetic cause, it is the matter of less than a year for a single laboratory to pin down and understand the biochemistry of the disease.