FKBP8 Gene and Spina Bifida

All mice with a defective form of the FKBP8 gene develop spina bifida. Screening of human DNA for this gene defect as well as others implicated, such as the MTHF and CT677 genes, will help to improve understanding of the gene pathways involved in normal and abnormal neural tube closures.

These results were presented by Dr. Richard H. Finnell, interim director and president of the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine, at the Fourth International Workshop on Neural Tube Defects on Saturday, September 10, 2005 in Palm Springs, California. The study was conducted using the OmniBank library of 350,000 mouse embryonic stem cell clones created by Lexicon Genetics to illuminate the functions of genes.

Newswise, September 12, 2005