Gene Discovered- Kendria Shifflett

Blindness-Causing Disease Gene Discovered

University of Pennsylvania veterinarians, vision-research scientists, and associates at Cornell University have finally found a gene that is the cause of blindness in dogs. They have been researching the cause for mare than three decades. In the late 1960s, Aguirre was studying a genetic disease that was causing for this rare dog breed to have a blindness disorder. The rare dog type is the Norwegian Elkhound. Aguirre cured those dogs, he then researched more to find other dogs with the same condition. The dogs conditions were similar only to find out that these other dogs have another type of disease. This disease in these dogs was Early Retinal Degeneration also known as ERD. The ERD disease happened earlier in the dogs life. Instead of the dog being two or four, these dogs were going blind within a year of birth. Aguirre and his colleagues looked into gene therapies to narrow down the list. They found the gene hidden into the dog’s genome. Genome is an organism’s hereditary information. The gene that causes blindness in the dogs was least expected because this particular gene is the dog’s brain. Aguirre didn’t think this gene had anything to do with vision, but he is proven wrong. This gene is important to the retina. In the retina there are visual cells, but when the dog has Early Retinal Degeneration the cells are lost and the vision fades. Retinas from dogs with ERD shows that during a period called plateau, the vision cells die but they are quickly replaced. Researchers found that the photoreceptors were being affected. Photoreceptors are cells that are used to sense or receive light. The article states that there are two different types of cells that are for vision, which helps us to see lights, colors, etc. Humans have three different types of cones that helps us make out colors, dogs only have two cones. Their cones are used for short wavelength and then the other cone is used for long and medium wavelength. The researchers used an antibody-labeling system to see what was happening to the photoreceptors. When looking into the antibody-labeling system they in the short wavelength cone a lot of rods were labeled also. The cell had hybrid photoreceptor. Researchers don’t know exactly what the gene does but they guess it is involved with control of the cell division cycle. In the retina, photoreceptor cells quit dividing after birth, but the hybrid photoreceptor cells continue to divide. The hybrid photoreceptor cells divide in the plateau period. Aguirre and his colleagues are studying this disease to under stand photoreceptor cells divide. They are trying to find a way to take control over the gene so they can get the division component without the abnormal component.
The science behind the article is the discovery that a gene was actually causing the blindness in the dogs. I thought this article was interesting because I never thought a gene could make someone go blind. It also interested me because it had a lot to do with dogs and I want to be a veterinarian. This article really interested me, I like finding out new things dealing with animals.

Work Citied
University of Pennsylvania. "New twist in a blindness-causing disease gene discovered." ScienceDaily, 21 Sep. 2011. Web. 19 Jan. 2012.