The ORC
June 26, 2011
Louise S. Bicknel of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medecine and Ernie M.H.F. Bongers of the Institute for Genetic and Metabolic Disease discovered which 5 genes are responsible for Meier-Gorlin Syndrome, a form of primordial dwarfism. Unlike with Dwarfism of Sindh MSG does create some serious health issues, but perhaps these are fixable.
The involved genes, ORC1, ORC4, ORC6, CDT1 and CDC6, all encode components within the origin recognition complex (ORC) that is essential in the initiation of the DNA replication in cells. In Meier-Gorlin Syndrome this process is slowed down, which in turn slows down cell division and growth.
In the investigations towards The Incredible Shrinking Man it’s important that such advancements in the knowledge of the small are not just read from a pathological perspective but from the point of possibility. If we learn what causes people with Meier-Gorlin to stay small, and are able to isolate the less desirable effects of this mutation, we may be one step closer to becoming healthy smaller people.