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Infants and children suffering from myotonic dystrophy, a serious condition that robs them of mobility, may be closer to a cure, thanks to genetics specialists at the University of Florida.
In a study published in the July issue of the medical journal Genes & Development, researchers have homed in on a key genetic process that underlies myotonic dystrophy, a crippling condition causing muscle atrophy, a University of Florida Health release said.
Professor Maurice Swanson with the university's College of Medicine said in the release that the disease is caused by corrupted DNA sequences which may open the door for new drug-based treatments.
“This (finding) provides us important new information about where we should go next and what kinds of therapeutics might be effective against this hereditary disease,” Swanson said the release.
According to the release, RNA molecules receive instructions from DNA to build protein. The researchers found that severe RNA misprocessing of the instructions is a major cause of congenital muscular dystrophy, the release said.
