Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Epilepsy Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health Article Date: 12 Aug 2013 - 9:00 PDT
Current ratings for: Genetic clues to epilepsy discovered by scientists
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Scientists have discovered two new genes linked to severe forms of childhood epilepsy, a breakthrough reached with new genetic technology, according to a study published in the journal Nature.
Researchers say that the genetic research technique may be a highly effective way of making discoveries about other complex neurological disorders like epilepsy.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), epilepsy affects more than 2 million people in the US. More than 300,000 of these are children under the age of 15.
This most recent research is part of a worldwide study called Epilepsy 4000 (Epi4k), analyzing DNA from 4,000 epilepsy patients and their relatives.
Researchers from Duke University Medical Center and staff from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) created a series of international research institutions named Epilepsy Centers Without Walls. The centers enabled the researchers to conduct an analysis of DNA sequences and patient information of participants.
The researchers say that DNA and clinical data was originally collected through the NIH-funded Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project.
Overall, within the 4,000 epilepsy patients, there were as many as 25 epilepsy-causing mutations in new and previously unidentified genes.
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Genetic clues to epilepsy discovered by scientists