Neil W Gibson of OSI Pharmaceuticals

Jeffrey Settleman,  Harvard Medical School and MGH Cancer Center

David Bailey of Chemoventures

N Claude Cohen of Synergix

-View All Webcasts

August 8, 2006--Studies have revealed that several SNCA gene mutations cause Parkinson disease. A recent study examined whether allele-length variability in the dinucleotide repeat sequence (REP1) of the SNCA gene is associated with Parkinson disease susceptibility. According to the authors, the study demonstrated "that the SNCA gene is not only a rare cause of autosomal dominant Parkinson disease in some families, but also a susceptibility gene for Parkinson disease at the population level." From their results, the authors estimate that REP1 locus variability may explain approximately 3% of the risk in the general population. JAMA (Abstract is free; full text is available to subscribers.)