Finding May Explain Many Brain Disorders, Lead to Prevention and Treatment adapted from Weill Cornell Medical College press release A new study led by Weill Cornell Medical College scientists shows that Fragile X syndrome occurs because of a mechanism that shuts off the gene associated with the disease. The findings, published today in Science, also show that a compound that blocks this silencing mechanism can prevent Fragile X syndrome – suggesting a similar therapy may be possible for 20 other diseases that range from mental retardation to multisystem failure. While researchers have known for more than two decades that the culprit behind Fragile X is an unusual mutation characterized by the excess repetition of a particular segment of the genetic code, they weren’t sure why the presence of a large number of these repetitions – 200 or more – sets the disease process in motion. Using stem cells from donated human embryos that
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