It works because many cases of muscular dystrophy are caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene (incidentally, one of the longest genes in the body) that make the entire genetic code for the protein shift by one letter.
This month a new scientific paper discussed the finding that small nematode worms of a certain species often carry a particular mitochondrial mutation the absence of 786 letters of code from a crucial gene.
This one family, in Ogden, Utah, has watched as five children in two generations have died from a mysterious disease that science could not explain.. Thanks to huge leaps being made in DNA sequencing and in computer programs to decipher genetic code, researchers were able to find thegene for this disease in just sixteen months.