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Article: Following the blueprint of a deadly inherited disease. (cystic fibrosis)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- November 4, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Scientists are identifying genes at the rate of one a day, but such feats represent only the first step on the long road to cures. Cystic fibrosis is a clear example. The 1989 discovery of the gene that causes CF garnered headlines and buoyed the hopes of families beset by the deadly inherited disease. But the gene merely provided the game plan to the search for a cure. After the initial excitement, scientists settled down to the less glamorous tasks that follow: defining its precise makeup, figuring out what protein it makes and what that protein does.
Within a year of the discovery, several labs had nailed down the molecules involved in the disease. The ...