AFTER ten years of frustrating toil, a band of gene-hunters from USA and the UK have at last nabbed the gene that causes Huntington's disease, a debilitating disorder of the nerves. The

FIVE-DAY-OLD Andrew Gobea became the first newborn to undergo gene therapy when surgeons at a Los Angeles hospital injected him recently with gene-altered cells obtained from his mother's placental

Scientists have made a significant breakthrough in treating this old age disease, with the discovery that abnormal production of proteins, called amyloids, causes nerve cell degeneration.

Fathers may be responsible for birth defects in their offspring (New Scientist, Vol 136 No 1843). Research using animal models suggests some miscarriages, birth defects and children's diseases can be

Specialised structures such as chromosomes were thought to float haphazardly in cells. Now, researchers believe tiny motors guide them on cytoplasmic tracks, a finding that could explain certain genetic disorders.