By John Von Radowitz April 11, 2016
Studying the genetic codes of 13 individuals who seem to be miraculously resistant to severe inherited diseases could open the door to life-saving new treatments, scientists believe.
The 13, who have remained healthy despite carrying genetic mutations linked to childhood diseases, were identified by researchers who scoured the DNA of more than half a million people worldwide.
All of them should have been susceptible to Mendelian disorders which can begin in early childhood and are generally caused by defects in just one gene.
Under normal circumstances, anyone carrying such “completely penetrant” mutations will inevitably become ill.
An example of a Mendelian disorder is cystic fibrosis.
Yet the 13 people who have been the focus of the new study are apparently totally unaffected by their faulty genes.