MUSCAT: A team of physicians from the Respiratory Diseases Unit of the Royal Hospital, acting in cooperation with counterparts from the Republic of Germany, have discovered a new genetic disease similar to cystic fibrosis that was the culprit behind cases of recent pulmonary infection in four children (three of them from the one family).
The doctors identified the new gene as ‘AGR2’, which was not previously described as the cause of any disease.
It took three years to complete the study which was conducted by a team that included Dr Sumaya Aloraimi and Dr Khoula al Shidhani.
The team applied the study to the gene’s effect on infected mice to further establish the symptoms of the recurrent infections. – ONA
