IBT researcher looks for genetic clues to spina bifida.
Dr. James F. Martin , a physician and molecular biologist at IBT, believes the genetically altered mice may help medical scientists begin to understand the role genetics plays in this crippling disease. Almost five in every 10,000 babies are born with spina bifida, a crippling birth defect that often leaves its victims paralyzed and confined to wheelchairs. In the United States, about 1,500 infants are born each year with the disease, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Normally, a sheath called the spinal canal surrounds the spinal cord as it develops in the growing fetus. Later, the bones of the spine form around the spinal canal.