Idiopathic scoliosis is a medical condition by lateral curvature of the spin and a rotation of the vertebral bodies. (Photo credit: Kfergos, flickr.com)
Researchers have identified the first gene causing idiopathic scoliosis, the most common type of spinal deformity. They identified 11 family members of a French family that were carriers of a rare variant of the gene, called POC5, and then used zebrafish to confirm that this variant really cause spinal deformity.
This study is the first step in understanding and perhaps preventing idiopathic scoliosis.
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Original research paper published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation on February 2, 2015.
Names and affiliations of selected authors
