Comments on: Jumping genes mobilise in the brains of people with Rett syndrome

By: Helena

Helena — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:10:55 +0000

Thanks for an interesting and easy-to-read-article and for the link to the article about brain stem tumour. On life expectancy, we recently met a very alert woman with RTT well over 60.

By: Elijah

Elijah — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:31:49 +0000

Magnificent site. Lots of helpful info here. I’m sending it to a few pals ans also sharing in delicious. And naturally, thanks in your sweat!

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:23:30 +0000

Possibly, but it’d be very hard to tell. Brain cancer is more common in older people and most people with Rett syndrome don’t live long enough (although with care, life expectancy can apparently reach as high as 40-50). Also, Rett syndrome is very rare, and brain cancer is fairly rare. So it would be very hard for an epidemiologist to study the frequency of one among the other.

However, it’s possible for a brain tumour to cause Rett-like symptoms: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9881680

By: Moreno

Moreno — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:14:22 +0000

Fascinating and well written as usual.

I was wondering if people with Rett syndrome tend to have more brain tumours than general population. All these roaming DNA elements could disrupt important genes such as tumour suppressor genes.

By: Kelsey

Kelsey — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:32:50 +0000

” MECP2 is a genetic gag – it silences other genes in a way that’s essential for producing healthy, mature neurons.”

A ‘genetic gag’ is such an apt description of a transcriptional repressor! You have a magical way with words, Ed Yong

I would also like to point out that MECP2 is also necessary for normal astrocyte development, which may explain at least some of the symptoms of Rett. The neurons always seem to get all the attention, but glia matters too!