Two recent news stories published in Science Translational Medicine caught my attention and got me excited. The reason they got me excited is because each story has the possibility of opening the door to new medical research and understanding.

The first report was on a discovery made after doing DNA sequencing on two twins who’ve lived with health issues their whole life and on their family. Previously, they had been diagnosed with dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD.) After looking at the sequencing both twins inherited a gene variant from each of their parents that when combined made them have low levels of neurotransmitters, dopamine, serotonin and noradrenalin. According to NPR, “Scientists think the gene mutation that the twins inherited from their mother may be responsible for a pattern of [fibromyalgia] in her family.”

The hypothesis suggests that people who have a single copy of the same gene mutation would have a more common condition, like fibromyalgia. People who have a double copy of the same gene mutation would have a severe manifestation, thus more rare genetic disorders, like DRD. Read the full story.

The second report that excited me has to do with sunburns. After doing research on humans and rats, scientists discovered the protein that causes the pain associated with sunburns. That protein, named CXCL5, calls inflammatory immune cells to the damaged tissue. Researchers hope that this new discovery will help expand what is understood about pain, especially for those with inflammatory conditions, like arthritis. Rats treated with a neutralizing antibody that targeted CXCL5 had a decreased sensitivity to pain. Hopefully this will pave the way to new types of pain treatments for those with conditions involving inflammation. I’m super excited to hear what future research discovers about this. Read the full story.

Which story interests you most?

This post was included in ChronicBabe Blog Carnival #34.

An individual's DNA profile*

*Image Credit: from www.flickr.com by micahb37