
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 31, 1990                   TAG: 9005310278
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DISEASE-LINKED DEFECT IN GENES DISCOVERED

Researchers working with worms have identified certain defective genes that cause functioning nerve cells to die - a finding that they hope may offer insight into conditions such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Lou Gehrig's diseases.

Those diseases, called neurodegenerative diseases, occur when functioning nerve cells die. They affect millions of Americans, but it remains a mystery why particular neurons die and what molecular changes cause them to do so.

"This is a model for how mutations can cause nerve cells to die," said Martin Chalfie, an author of the paper published today in the journal Nature. "There is the hope and the possibility that there would be human counterparts to the genes that we're looking at."

Chalfie's findings could point to new ways of approaching the development of diagnostic tests for neurodegenerative diseases. They might also provide a way of screening possible drugs that might slow the process of neurodegeneration.

- Los Angeles Times

by CNB