Gene defect may cause some cataracts.Gene defect may cause some cataracts The discovery of a link between a specific genetic profile andone type of hereditary cataract could mean that some forms of human cataracts are due to defective genes, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report in the January PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. (Vol. 84, No. 2). In the report, Canadian, Dutch and British scientists describe a genetic profile unique to people suffering from the so-called Coppock-like cataract, a disease present at birth and characterized by opaque eye lenses. The characteristic gene profile involves genes coding forcyrstallin, the water-soluble protein found in the eye lens and thought to be involved in lens transparency. Although the study did not prove there actually is a mutant crystallin crys·tal·lin n. A globulin in the lens of the eye. crystallin a globulin in the crystalline lens of the eye. gene present, it suggests that genes for Coppock-like cataract are located near those for crystallin. The researchers hypothesize hy·poth·e·size v. hy·poth·e·sized, hy·poth·e·siz·ing, hy·poth·e·siz·es v.tr. To assert as a hypothesis. v.intr. To form a hypothesis. in the report that a mutant crystallin gene might lead to distorted protein folding Noun 1. protein folding - the process whereby a protein molecule assumes its intricate three-dimensional shape; "understanding protein folding is the next step in deciphering the genetic code" folding , causing clouding of the lens. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion