---

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

DATE: MONDAY, February 1, 1993                   TAG: 9302010097
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA                                LENGTH: Short

---

SCIENTISTS FIND GENE CAUSES TWO DISEASES

Philadelphia scientists have shown for the first time that changes in a single human gene can cause two unrelated human diseases - cancer and deafness.

"Our findings are a surprise," said Beverly S. Emanuel, a professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The researchers found that a gene that causes a type of congenital deafness known as Waardenburg syndrome fuses with another gene to cause a tumor of the muscles.

The findings are expected to help scientists develop diagnostic tests and possible treatments for an often-lethal form of cancer that usually emerges during the teen-age years, Emanuel said.

---