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Article: Cause of Genetic Disorder Discovered.(familial dysautonomia)
- Article from:
- Genomics & Genetics Weekly
- Article date:
- February 23, 2001
- Author:
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2001 FEB 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers from Fordham University have identified the cause of familial dysautonomia (FD), a genetic disease that affects the autonomic nervous system of one in 30 individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
Using the DNA sequence decoded by the Human Genome Project, the Fordham team found that FD is caused by mutations in the IKAP gene, found in chromosome 9. The findings appear in the March 2001 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
FD is a disorder that affects a person's autonomic nervous system, which controls such involuntary functions as swallowing, digestion, temperature, and blood pressure regulation. ...