DAMMAM: A scientific team from the Arabian Gulf University has discovered a unique genetic mutation linked to hereditary high blood cholesterol among Arabs. It also discovered a mechanism used by bacteria in the environment to crack and catabolize aromatics compounds. Muhammad Al-Dahmani, Director of the university's Biotechnology Program, said other new discoveries by the program research teams include the development of three biological compound medications that help to treat several conditions of cancer, hepatitis and multiple sclerosis. Speaking at a recent press conference at a university in Manama, Bahrain, he said the discoveries of the compound medications would be an incentive for the Arab world to focus on technology transfer to produce this kind of medication and sell it at prices reasonable for everyone. Saeed Shawer, Medical Biotechnology professor, head of the research team, said his team studied familial Hypercholesterolemia in a number of Arab families descended from the tribes of Adnan and Qahtan and found the same genetic mutation that causes disease in both tribes' families. “The university obtained a patent on that invention (the gene discovery) from a British patents registration institution which described it as a unique discovery. Now the university is carrying out the procedures to obtain the patent internationally,” Shawer said, adding that this mutation has never been recorded. “The discovery would contribute to the early diagnoses of the disease, like in married couples before conception, and in the process of surveys to estimate the spread of the deadly disease. This would curb the disease complications that are burdening Arab healthcare institutions with high financial costs,” he said. Shawer said that this study, and other scientific discoveries, indicates that familial high blood cholesterol in one or both parents in the Arabian Gulf states is seven to 10 times higher than world averages. According to available statistics, there are more than 1,000 hereditary diseases spread in Arab communities, he said, adding that he thinks the actual number is probably 3,000. “There are about 108 such diseases in Bahrain alone,” he said, noting the number is 240 in the United Arab Emirates and 282 in Oman, according to 2010 statistics. He attributed hereditary diseases to marriage among relatives, which constitutes 50 percent to 60 percent of marriages in the Arab world, and excessive reproduction. “Blood diseases are one of the most widespread diseases in the Arab world. They are costing about $30 million annually as direct treatment costs.”
