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Article: HEARTLESS MUTATION CAUSES CARDIAC HOLES DISCOVERY OF FLAWED GENE IN CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE HINTS AT SCREENING, THERAPY By David N. Leff Science Editor
- Article from:
- BIOWORLD Today
- Article date:
- July 6, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 A Thomson Healthcare Company. 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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If a new car turns out to be a lemon, there are so-called "lemon laws" to ensure it gets repaired free, or replaced.
Presumably, such defective automobiles result from lapses by workers on the assembly line. Comparable Oops! factors can account for congenitally defective hearts - in people, mice and fruit flies. In such inborn cardiac flaws, the assembly-line workers are genes that build the prenatal hearts of fetuses during embryogenesis.
When a middle-aged individual slumps lifeless to the sidewalk, his or her heart attack is often blamed on coronary artery disease, perhaps brought on by too much rich food and too little exercise. But when a young athlete ...