Gene disease 'recreated in lab' (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

US researchers say they can now watch genetic diseases unfolding in the laboratory after finding a way to make large numbers of affected cells.

The advance, reported in the journal Nature, used skin cells from a child with a devastating genetic condition.

These were turned first into stem cells - the body's master cells - and then into nerve cells, which started to die as the gene fault took hold.

The team said the earliest stages of the disease could now be identified.
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While doctors know these cells are dying, they have not been able to watch the process in close-up, and look for clues as to exactly how the genetic fault carried by these children is affecting them.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7791283.stm