Down’s syndrome ‘recreated in mice’
September 23rd, 2005 by RespiteMatch.com22:54pm 22nd September 2005
Scientists have announced the most successful recreation of Down’s syndrome in mice so far, bringing the prospect of a better understanding of the condition a step closer.
A study led the Medical Research Council in the UK created a mouse model of Down’s syndrome by adding an almost complete copy of human chromosome 21 to mouse embryonic cells.
A person with Down’s syndrome has three copies of chromosome 21 instead of the normal two.
Join the debate ยป The findings, published in the journal Science, show that the mice created had several traits characteristic of Down’s syndrome, including learning and memory disabilities, congenital heart defects in some cases and a relatively small lower jaw.
The scientists said more research would be necessary to find out how closely the mice were modelling Down’s syndrome but they hoped the breakthrough would add to a better understanding of the condition.
Currently people with Down’s syndrome are more prone to conditions such as Alzheimer’s, heart defects and leukaemia.
It is hoped the study will also lead to a better understanding of the health problems associated with other “aneuploidies” or conditions in which people have the wrong number of chromosomes.
The research team was led jointly by Dr Victor Tybulewicz of the MRC, who works at the National Institute for Medical Research and Professor Elizabeth Fisher, of the Institute of Neurology, University College, London.
Dr Tybulewicz said: “Aneuploidies are seen in at least 5% of all pregnancies and are therefore a big cause of human illness, death and miscarriage.
“This technology will provide a crucial genetic tool in understanding this complex human syndrome.”
Figures from the Down’s Syndrome Association show one in every 1,000 babies in the UK will have the condition. There are currently 60,000 people in the UK with the condition.
