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Genetic studies often involve the cooperation of large numbers of affected persons and their families. The discovery of the gene that, when mutated, causes a form of dwarfism (Ellis-van Creveld syndrome) has been accelerated through a collaborative effort between geneticists and the Old Order Amish, of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The impact of microarray technology on biology will depend on computational methods of data analysis. A supervised computer-learning method using support vector machines predicts gene function from expression data—and shows promise.
A gene (AXIN1) encoding another component of the Wnt-signalling pathway is reported to be mutated in human tumours, underscoring the oncogenic consequences of inappropriate activation of developmental signalling pathways later in life. Inhibitors of these signals therefore represent potential agents with which to treat cancer.
The combination of large-scale microarray-based gene expression analyses and response to chemotherapeutic agents in a panel of cancer lines yields correlation, but corroboration is still to come.
