About 20% CRC patients have a genetic component and HNPCC is the most common autosomal dominant hereditary syndrome. Some Chinese HNPCC pedigrees were recently reported in the January 14, 2008 issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology because of their great significance for hereditary CRC. This article will undoubtedly bring comfort to many families.

Contrary to our previous beliefs, identical twins are not genetically identical. This surprising finding is presented by American, Swedish, and Dutch scientists in a study being published today in the prestigious journal American Journal of Human Genetics.

A research team led by scientists at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston has identified a defective gene that affects vascular smooth-muscle cells in people who suffer from hereditary thoracic aortic disease, which can kill victims with little warning in the prime of their lives.

A rare hereditary disorder that strongly predisposes carriers to develop cancer at an early age has been found in an Asian female, report researchers today at the American Association for Cancer Research Centennial Conference on Translational Cancer Medicine.

An Australian genetic scientist has discovered two new genes that cause a form of arthritis that affects 22,000 Australians.

There are special diseases that are so old that it is known that even Egyptian mummies and tsars’ families were suffering from them. No medications have been yet created to cure them, and no doctor can help get rid of such diseases. Doctors say that such diseases that are called hereditary diseases emerge as a result of natural selection. These diseases are programmed to progress only.

A new technology developed at the University of Toronto is revealing biochemical processes responsible for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and could one day pave the way for pharmaceutical applications.

The Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) from the University of Navarra and the Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics BV (AMT) have demonstrated the pre-clinical effectiveness of a treatment against acute intermittent porphyria. Once the pre-clinical, toxicological and clinical phases are completed, it may be possible to eliminate this disease permanently.