Bear's work suggests that a specific class of drug already sitting on drug company shelves may help patients with an inherited disease called fragile X syndrome, a common cause of autism.

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The study, which tracked 1000 patients in 16 countries for more than four years, was conducted by researchers from Queens University and Newcastle University in the UK. They focused principally on people with Lynch syndrome, an inherited genetic disorder that causes cancer by affecting genes responsible for detecting and repairing DNA damage.

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Compounds in preclinical tests target cystic fibrosis (30, 000 people plus a thousand new cases per year), Huntington's disease (30, 000 cases) and Rett syndrome, a rare inherited brain disorder.

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Souther inherited her disease--familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome--from her father and figured there never would be a cure.

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