Gene Hunters Flock to Amish Country

[Dover]

Gene Hunters Flock to Amish Country

By PAUL ELIAS, AP Biotechnology Writer
Sun Jun 26, 1:01 PM ET

STRASBURG, Pa. - Smack dab in the middle of a central Pennsylvanian cornfield, in the heart of an Amish culture that typically shuns technology, sits a marvel of genetic medicine and science.


The building itself, a tidy clapboard structure, was raised by hand, rope and horse in the Amish way 16 years ago. Upstairs, is the Clinic for Special Children. Downstairs houses the Amish Research Clinic.

The clinic has played a role in numerous significant discoveries by expert gene hunters, from diabetes breakthroughs to unlocking some of the mysteries behind sudden infant death syndrome.

The gene hunters, who come from far and wide, spend countless hours rooting through a rich genetic trove that only an insular genetic pool like the Amish can offer.

To the Amish, many of whom travel the few dozen miles or so from their homes by horse and buggy, the clinic has been heaven sent. It very often saves their children, who are disproportionately afflicted by rare and sometimes fatal genetic-based diseases because of 200 years of inbreeding....cont'd

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