Posted on 05/26/2009 3:12:32 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Chinese scientists have found the genetic marker for congenital generalized hypertrichosis terminalis (CGHT), a disorder that is often referred to as werewolf syndrome. Those who suffer from the hereditary disease are typified by thick, dark hair that grows all over the body and face. They may also have a broad, flat nose, large ears, a large mouth, and thick lips, and, occasionally, an enlarged head and jaw. [Science] Other than the fact that it is hereditable, the source of the disorder has been a mystery until now.
The fact that it is so highly hereditable points to a likely suspect: genes. But the disease is so rare (Science reports that there are only 30 known cases in all of Chinas population of one billion), that studying it can prove difficult. Scientists at Peking Union Medical College in Beijing were up to the task, however, and have spent four long years trawling through medical data and the Internet to find some common link between the known suffers of the disease.
In the end, they found three families willing to participate in the study. More long experiments were to follow, including the compilation of the entire genome for 16 family members afflicted with the disease and 19 family members who did not have CGHT to use as comparisons. After careful work, the offending section of DNA was narrowed down to chromosome 17, where scientists found copy number variations. This type of variation is marked by large repeats of DNA sequences or the lack of said repeats. In the case of CGHT, there was a missing portion of DNA across four genes. That DNA was intact for the 19 unaffected family members.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
I was wondering what became of my first wife......goonie goo-goo.
Don’t bring a Bigfoot into my home, Gus! With my children?
Who says journalists know nothing about science?
How about if these people just decide not to reproduce.
So I guess Mulder’s been in China for the past ten years? I’ve missed him.
lawl
Jekyl and Hyde explained.
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