Two Harvard Medical School opthalmologists are among a number of researchers who recently identified a gene responsible for one form of blindness.
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP), which affects 100,000 people in the U.S. and approximately 1.5 million worldwide, is caused by mutations in the identified gene, say researchers Eliot L. Berson, Chatlos professor of ophthalmology, and Thaddeus P. Dryja, associate professor of ophthalmology.
The scientists found the gene after studying patients with RP and comparing their genes with those of mice blinded by the disease. Both work at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston.
The gene is responsible for the production of peripherin, a protein necessary for normal operation of light-sensitive cells in the retina.
The disease was independently traced to the same gene by researchers at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
Read more in News
Dylan's Back PagesRecommended Articles
-
We're Not Just GenesFor a moment there, I thought that modern technology had hit upon the solution to the Harvard social scene problem.
-
HMS Researchers Explore Limb DevelopmentResearchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS) have identified a gene that is responsible for determining upper and lower limb development.
-
HMS Team Studies Gene, LeukemiaScientists from Harvard Medical School (HMS) are working to cure leukemia, the cancer of the blood, with help from overseas.
-
Concert Review: Ween -- That's EntertainmentJudging from Ween's stage setup Sunday night, you'd expect them to be a skinhead hardcore band; distributed across the stage
-
HMS Professor Announces Promising Gene Therapy ResultsDavid A. Roth, assistant professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, announced Monday that he and his team of
-
Singer/Professor To Be Lowell Senior TutorBy HANNAH E. KENSER Contributing Writer Visiting Associate Professor of Russian and East European History and guitarist/singer for the rock
