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Article: Athletic Gene Yields Biological Clues.
- Article from:
- Gene Therapy Weekly
- Article date:
- April 19, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 NewsRX. 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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(CW HENDERSON PUBLISHER www.newsfile.com) -- Joltin' Joe is immortalized in song, Babe Ruth in a candy bar, but only Michael Jordan has a gene named after him.
Jordan's legendary leaping ability has inspired two cell biologists at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, to name a transposon - a highly specialized gene - after the sports and cultural icon. A transposon is a type of gene, common in organisms ranging from algae to humans, that literally jumps from one cell site to another.
While transposons are abundant, controlling them for useful research has been nearly impossible, until David Kirk, PhD, professor of biology, and Stephen Miller, ...