( they have the mutation said Casanova....)Inheriting a tendency to brain infection

they have the mutation, said Casanova. That hasn't happened yet, although patients susceptible to tuberculosis (TB) because of an inherited deficiency in another interferon pathway have been successfully treated with the interferon they lack. Based on the results in patients with TB, Casanova hopes the combined treatment could dramatically accelerate recovery from herpes simplex encephalitis, and thereby also limit potential brain damage.

Casanova believes there are likely other genes that predispose people to infectious diseases, and that some of them may be inherited in a dominant fashion. That is, an individual need inherit only one copy of the mutation to show the predisposition. In his opinion, scientists will increasingly need to view common infectious diseases through the lens of such primary immunodeficiencies.

"Understanding the genetic basis of the failure of the immune system should make it possible to devise novel ways to make it succeed," he said.

Since the mid-1950s, most infectious disease researchers have believed that the genetic components of infectious disease are complex, involving different genetic variants interacting with each other and with the environment in subtle ways that add up to an overall predisposition or resistance.

However, Michael Levin, professor of pediatrics and international child health at Imperial College, London, does not think the two theories are mutually exclusive. "We strongly suspect that rare, highly deleterious mutations may co-exist with common polymorphisms in many infectious diseases," he said.
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Source:Howard Hughes Medical Institute

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