The Cystic Fibrosis Gene

Part I of Essay
Introduction: Cystic fibrosis is an inherited autosomal recessive disease that exerts its main effects on the digestive system and the lungs. This disease is the most common genetic disorder among Caucasians. Cystic fibrosis affects about one in 2,500 people, with one in tw ....

Part II of Essay
.... mutated protein in the gene of interest, and finally to locate the actual gene. However, this classical approach proved to be impractical when searching for the CF gene. To find the gene responsible for CF, the principle of "reverse genetics" was applied. Scientists accomplished this by linking the disease to a specific chromosome. After this linkage, they isolated the gene of interest on the chromosome and then tested its product. Before the disease could be linked to a specific chromosome, a marker needed to be found that would always trave ....