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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 9, 1993                   TAG: 9304090057
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Short

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GENE, IMMUNE DISEASE LINKED

Genetic material from a boy who died after spending his entire life in a protective bubble has helped scientists find the gene that caused his rare disease, which robs the body of all defenses.

Researchers estimate that this gene accounts for about half of all cases of severe combined immune deficiency disease, or SCID, which occurs in about one in every 100,000 births.

The discovery is the latest in a rapid series of breakthroughs into the genetic underpinnings of illnesses. Scientists in recent weeks have reported pinpointing the genes that cause such diverse ailments as Huntington's disease and attention deficit disorder.

Experts believe that many common disorders, such as heart disease and cancer, result from a complex interplay between several inherited genes and outside influences, such as diet.

However, other, usually much rarer, disorders apparently stem from a single miscue in one gene.

This was the case in X-linked SCID, a form of the immune deficiency that is passed from mothers to sons. Researchers from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Md., reported their discovery in the latest issue of the journal Cell.

The scientists based their work on genetic material taken from three SCID patients. One of them was David, the best-known victim of the disease.

The youngster, whose last name never was revealed, lived in plastic bubbles to protect him from germs and died at age 12 in 1984.

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