Bone Density, Its not just from Milk:
This is tragic for those who happen to have this mutation because it can be so limiting; for example with physical activity, the victim would never be able to play and contact sports because of how frail they are. On the other hand, for individuals with the increase in function mutation, they benefit due to the decrease of chance that their bones will get broken since their bones are more dense. If someone where able to isolate the increase in function mutation, and genetically engineer it, they could create a sort of medicine for those who have the lack of function mutation.
Both mutations are determined by the Wnt pathway, which are a group of pathways that send messages from outside of the cell to the surface of the cell.
References:
Lynn M. Boyden, Ph.D, Junhao Mao, Ph.D, Joseph Belsky, M.D, Lye Mitzer, M/D, Anita
Farhi, R.N., Mary A. Mitnick, Ph.D, Diaqing Wu, Ph.D, Karl Insogna, M.D, and
Richard Lifton, M.D., Ph.D. N Engl J Med 2002; 346:15313-1521. May 16,
2002. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa013444
References:
Lynn M. Boyden, Ph.D, Junhao Mao, Ph.D, Joseph Belsky, M.D, Lye Mitzer, M/D, Anita
Farhi, R.N., Mary A. Mitnick, Ph.D, Diaqing Wu, Ph.D, Karl Insogna, M.D, and
Richard Lifton, M.D., Ph.D. N Engl J Med 2002; 346:15313-1521. May 16,
2002. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa013444
this mutation is perplexing, i find it slightly ironic that high bone density causes a genetic mutation which causes weak bones. I'm interested to see what further research uncovers about this correlation.
ReplyDeletethis mutation is perplexing, i find it slightly ironic that high bone density causes a genetic mutation which causes weak bones. I'm interested to see what further research uncovers about this correlation.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited how this gene can be used once genetically isolated. I predict it would be used for sports medicine, with athletes who need to recover faster and obviously those with osteoporosis. However, isn't also possible to use stem cells to repair osteoporosis? I believe they are able to develop into similar cells that surrounds it. Therefore, if surrounded by cells responsible for bone density, can't that in turn produce more of those healthy cells?
ReplyDeleteI'm excited how this gene can be used once genetically isolated. I predict it would be used for sports medicine, with athletes who need to recover faster and obviously those with osteoporosis. However, isn't also possible to use stem cells to repair osteoporosis? I believe they are able to develop into similar cells that surrounds it. Therefore, if surrounded by cells responsible for bone density, can't that in turn produce more of those healthy cells?
ReplyDeleteI'm excited how this gene can be used once genetically isolated. I predict it would be used for sports medicine, with athletes who need to recover faster and obviously those with osteoporosis. However, isn't also possible to use stem cells to repair osteoporosis? I believe they are able to develop into similar cells that surrounds it. Therefore, if surrounded by cells responsible for bone density, can't that in turn produce more of those healthy cells?
ReplyDelete