Researchers identify gene causing inherited brain disorders

A global team of researchers has identified the causative gene behind the brain disorder of 4-year-old Indian child and nine other children around the globe, in a discovery that is expected to pave the way for the diagnosis and treatment of other children with genetic diseases. For the first time it’s been identified that mutation in DARS gene cause Hypomyelination with Brain Stem and Spinal Cord Involvement and Leg Spasticity. A team consisting of sixteen researchers including one from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and one from Maulana Azad Medical College used genome sequencing to determine that these children were suffering from a defect in a gene previously not associated with human disease.