Solving the Parkinson's Puzzle

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have demonstrated for the first time that a gene associated with a rare disease that affects children is actually a marker for Parkinson's Disease in adults. Dr. Jeffrey Vance is director of the genomics research laboratories at Duke. He says the discovery does not mean an immediate cure or even a new treatment for Parkinson's, but it does add to the body of knowledge that could eventually lead to the elimination of the disease.

"That's important, because once we understand a piece of the puzzle it's now a lot easier. It's like putting a puzzle together. Once you've got the outside edges around, it's a lot easier now to start putting the rest of the pieces in the puzzle, and the more of the outside edges we can put together the faster the whole idea will go."

Dr. Vance says there will be more research not only into the genetic causes, but also the role played by the environment in triggering the genes to activate the symptoms of Parkinson's. I'm Tom Britt.

Vance says genetics research could eventually help us avoid environments that might trigger diseases to which we are genetically susceptible.

Cut 2...disease...: 19 . . . (Preview this in a WAV file in 16-bit mono.)

"Understanding the genetic causes that lead people to be more susceptible to disease will have a great benefit to prevention, to understanding environmental interactions which of course are one of the best ways -- if you understand what people should stay away from or what they may be most susceptible to -- that may be one of the best ways to try and prevent disease."