Genetic Research – Rett SyndromeThe October 1999 issue of Nature reports that Dr. Huda Zoghbi (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston) and colleagues have found a genetic mutation which causes Rett Syndrome.
Rett Syndrome is a neurological disorder seen almost exclusively in females and found in a variety of racial and ethnic groups worldwide. Its prevalence is between 1/10,000 and 1/23,000 births. Although these girls develop normally as infants, they gradually lose the ability to speak or walk and often move their hands continually, as if wringing them. About 80% develop seizures.
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