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HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE

HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE. GENETIC DISEASE RESEARCH Molly Katie Nathalie. Locations of gene: Chromosome 4. -The disease destroys cells in the basal ganglia of the brain -Inherited. Background Info on HD . History of HD. before the 19th century, people with HD were thought to be possessed

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HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE

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  1. HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE GENETIC DISEASE RESEARCH Molly Katie Nathalie

  2. Locations of gene: Chromosome 4 -The disease destroys cells in the basal ganglia of the brain -Inherited

  3. Background Info on HD

  4. History of HD • before the 19th century, people with HD were thought to be possessed • 1872 George Huntington made the first description of disease after observing generations of a family with similar conditions > realized the condition must be linked by family members • 1911 Charles Davenport, with the help of Huntington, proved that HD was autosomal dominant • 1983 the US-Venezuela Huntington's Disease Collaborative Research Project located approximate gene location • 1993 the research group was able to isolate the gene: 4p16.3

  5. IS THERE A CURE? Not one that is perfected but silencing the harmful gene with RNAi is a step in the right direction... (+) degradation of harmful HD gene (-) degeneration of normal HD gene http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/37073339#37073339

  6. Gene Silencing ("switch off") transcription phase = making histone modifications post-transcriptional =results in the mRNA being destroyed or blocked (RNAi is useful here).

  7. Ethical Issues -stereotypes: aggressive, violent, criminal, and dangerous .......One neurologist testified at the 1977 Commission hearings, “It’s unbelievable how few doctors know about Huntington’s Chorea, and even worse than that” were those “who know about it, but will drop the patient like a hotcake. They don’t want to have anything to do with unpleasant, nasty diseases like that.”

  8. Bibliography http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/whataregd/hunt/ http://www.hdfoundation.org/home.php http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=16041 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HgFUvVyHYQ&feature=BFp&list=WL6281CFBC1C102154 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/rnai-cure.html

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