discovery
A Saudi scientific team from King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center headed by the chief geneticist and consultant geneticist at the Specialty Hospital, Dr. Fawzan Al-Qurai,, in cooperation with a specialized scientific team at Harvard University of America, enabled the discovery of a genetic defect in the gene "TDRD7" that causes the emergence of cataract The genetic material in the lens of the eye, in a paper published on the 25th of last March in the well-known international scientific journal Science.
Dr. Fawzan Al-Kuraia explained yesterday that cataract disease is a very common disease in the world, and a percentage of it is due to genetic causes that often affect young people, as the research team studied the genetic factors that cause this disease in a group of infected children, and through the study of chromosome formation, it was revealed. For a gene fission in the gene "TDRD7", and thus disable the work of this gene, which confused scientists, given that it was not known about this gene to cause any disease.
He added that scientists have extensively studied and conducted a number of complex laboratory experiments, including those on experimental animals that took more than five years to demonstrate the existence of a previously undiscovered role for this gene in the formation of cellular granules, which play a major role in the natural formation of the lens of the eye, indicating that What increased the importance of this research is the other important role that was discovered for this gene in regulating eye pressure, as high eye pressure is one of the most common eye diseases in the Kingdom.
Dr. Al-Kuraia stressed that this discovery may contribute, through advanced genetic technologies, to avoiding the occurrence of this disease in new children of affected families, and it may also have a future role in the field of treatment, prevention and a better understanding of cataract and high eye pressure, which are among the common eye diseases in the Kingdom. At the end of his speech, he expressed his sincere thanks to all the members of the research team and to the management of the Specialty Hospital for their great support and encouragement.
