To the Point
The Heart Disease Gene
Heart disease is America’s number one killer, and there hasn’t been a major new drug to fight it since statins came on the scene in the 1980’s. Now, researchers say, a single genetic mutation may lead the way to the next step forward.
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readHeart disease is America’s number one killer, and there hasn’t been a major new drug to fight it since statins came on the scene in the 1980’s. Now, researchers say, a single genetic mutation may lead the way to the next step forward.
720,000 Americans have suffered heart attacks. But, in the future, they might be prevented if drugs are developed to mimic the mutation of a single gene. That’s according to today’s New England Journal of Medicine, which reports on research conducted by Dr. Sekar Kathiresan, Director of Preventive Cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate member of the Broad Institute.
