Genetic research continues to broaden our understanding of the mechanism or pathophysiology of diseases. Reports seem to present themselves daily about new avenues for treatments of once incurable or uncontrollable illnesses.

A team from the Scripps Research Institute and the University of California School of Medicine has developed compounds that reactivate the gene responsible for the neurodegenerative disease Friedreich’s ataxia, offering hope for an effective treatment for this devastating and often deadly condition.

• Dr. Joel M. Gottesfeld, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute