Fresh Insights Into Down Syndrome

New research from scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School could revolutionize the way Down syndrome is studied and treated.

Researchers have discovered a way to "turn off" the extra chromosome responsible for Down syndrome, called trisomy 21. The research is still in its earliest stages, and has only been tried on laboratory cell cultures. But, proving that chromosomes can be "silenced" at all represents an entirely new way of thinking about Down syndrome.

The study was published just this afternoon in the journal Nature.

For more on this new research, visit WBUR's CommonHealth blog.

Dr. Jeanne Lawrence, lead author of new Down syndrome study and professor of cell and developmental biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School