(MED) Mutant Gene Discovery In Jews May Stop Brain Damage

"BGU research finds gene in Jews of Moroccan and Iraqi origin that may cause serious mental retardation, epilepsy beginning at infancy.

A mutant gene carried by one out of 40 Jews of Moroccan and Iraqi ancestries that – if found in both parents – may cause serious mental retardation and epilepsy beginning at infancy, has been discovered by a Ben- Gurion University of the Negev team.

As the disease is both severe and common, testing for these mutations will probably soon become a routine prenatal genetic screening test in these two populations so that future cases can be prevented, by carriers either not marrying each other or having children together, or by abortion or pre-genetic diagnosis to choose healthy embryos for in-vitro fertilization."