Class of neurological disorders share 3-D genome folding pattern, study finds
(PHYSorg.com Medicine & Health)

In a class of roughly 30 neurological disorders that includes ALS, Huntington`s Disease and Fragile X Syndrome, the relevant mutant gene features sections of repeating base pair sequences known as short tandem repeats, or STRs. Healthy people have STRs of normal lengths distributed across their DNA. For people with trinucleotide repeat (TNR) expansion diseases, however, the STRs in the mutant genes are unstable: the number of repetitions expand into ultra-long lengths that are related to the disease`s pathology.