Forwarded by Jack Hebert -- with thanks <davidson3542@home.com> ====================== LONDON (Reuters) - A consortium of international scientists has identified the gene that causes a rare female hereditary disease in a finding that could promote better detection and understanding of the illness. Incontinentia pigmenti (IP), which is known also as Block-Siemens-Suizerger Syndrome, affects about one in 10,000 women. Males with the illness usually die before birth. Because it causes a variety of symptons, ranging from unusual skin rashes and eye and teeth problems to strokes and seizures in severe cases, it is often misdiagnosed. Scientists from Britain, Italy, France, Germany, and the U.S. have not only traced the illness to a damaged gene called NEMO on the X chromosome but have figured out how the mutation is caused. "Identification of this gene is a major breakthrough for diagnosing as well as understanding the cause if IP.", said Dr. Sue Kenwrick, a member of the International Incontinentia Pigmenti Consortium. ================================ That's it. Jack Hebert <coraliehebert@hotmail.com>