If we can find out what these people have in common in terms of disease then we can do a study where we solicit patients with those clinical features and see what the 5T allele frequency is among them. Sinusitis seems to be a significant feature of this milder form of cystic fibrosis, the researcher said. That's not to say that people with sinus headaches and allergies should think they have mutations of the CF gene. That's just not true. It's an association.
Cystic fibrosis is the most common fatal genetic illness among whites.
Both men and women can inherit the ailment, and about one in 2,500 whites are born with it. The median age of survival is 30. The CF gene was cloned in 1989. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center support the continuing research. Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.