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Clue for Cancer Cure may be Found by Studying Mutation in Ecuadorian Dwarfs

by Kathy Jones on Feb 18 2011 7:39 PM

 Clue for Cancer Cure may be Found by Studying Mutation in Ecuadorian Dwarfs
A type of growth mutation suffered by a group of Ecuadorian dwarfs could provide a vital insight in finding a cure for cancer according to a study published in the journal, Science Translational Medicine.
The 22-year long study analyzed the health of 99 individuals from a north Ecuador province and found that just one of them developed cancer. In comparison, around 17 percent of the group’s normal sized relatives developed cancer while over 5 percent suffered from diabetes.

Lead research Dr Jaime Guevara-Aguirre said that the growth mutation could be the reason for the lack of any chronic disease among the group. Dr Guevara-Aguirre said that all of the individuals were in perfect proportion apart from a mutation in their growth hormone receptor gene that caused stunted growth and added that findings could pave way to manufacturing drugs that provided similar protection to others.

“The growth hormone receptor-deficient people don't get two of the major diseases of ageing. It's the dream of every administration, anywhere in the world. You live a long healthy life, and then you drop dead”, co-author of the study, Dr Valter Longo said.



Source-Medindia


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