Glitch in genes

People suffering form arthritis may just have a glitch in one of the human body’s 25000 genes. A recent study in Japan showed that people carrying a particular variant of a protein-secreting gene called GDF5 were 80 percent more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the hip.

The presence of the variant, lead author Yoshinari Miyamoto and a team of Japanese and Chinese researchers suggested, probably reduced the production of the GDF5 gene, which plays a key role in the development of cartilage in joints.

All very fascinating, but the article does not say anything about how this will help arthritis suffers today. As far as I know fixing genes with glitches isn’t something one does that easy. We need to find a simple relief and cure for this very painful disease now.