Miriam Banku*, Abalaka . M
As researchers discover the role genes play in disease, more genetic tests become available to help doctors make diagnoses and pinpoint the cause of the disease. For example, heart disease, diabetes, cancer can all be caused either by a mutation in certain genes, or by environmental factors such as diet or exercise to name a few. The ultimate goal of is to identify the factors that are responsible for these diseases. This knowledge will facilitate the development of gene-specific therapies and cures and also methods for identify individuals at risk for these diseases.The recent evolution of molecular genetics techniques and their application in deciphering the molecular genetic basis of inherited diseases have facilitated the dawning of molecular medicine. A complete genetic map of the human genome, based on easily identifiable highly polymorphic DNA markers, has been developed. This achievement is a milestone in that it provides the foundation for genetic linkage analysis, a technique essential to the mapping of the chromosomal locus responsible for a disease. Before the development of multiple informative markers, identification of a disease-related gene required a priori knowledge of the defective protein, which was known for only a few diseases. The previous approach of "from a defective protein to a defective gene" has been replaced with the approach of "from a defective gene to a defective protein.†It is anticipated that the emerging field of molecular biology will greatly aid in the future stratification and therapy for patients with malignant tumors. In this review, recent advances in the diagnosis, molecular genetics, and treatment of diseases
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