The Greenwood Genetic Center is among 50 sites in the United States and other countries to share $71 million in funding to investigate rare diseases as part of a National Institutes of Health research network.

The Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network will conduct more than 20 studies over the next five years.

"By studying the genetic component of these rare diseases, we hope to be able to better predict the course of the illnesses and provide more effective, personalized treatments for those afflicted," NIH Director Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni said in a statement. "Ultimately, this individualized approach, completely different from how we treat patients today, will allow us to prevent or to promptly treat the complications arising from these genetic disorders."

Because there are so few patients affected by each disease, few drug companies research treatments for them.

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NIH defines a rare disease as a condition that affects fewer than 200,000 people nationwide. Researchers are aware of some 6,000 such diseases, which afflict about 25 million Americans.

Just last year, the Greenwood Genetic Center and Clemson University announced a plan to invest $15 million to build a graduate education center in Greenwood to train scientists to study causes and treatments for birth disorders as well as the genetic susceptibility to conditions such as premature birth, hypertension and diabetes.

With the new network, the Greenwood Genetic Center will be studying Angelman, Rett and Prader-Willi syndromes, a collection of neurological and congenital disorders marked by mental retardation and other symptoms, officials said.

Other diseases that will be studied include myelodysplastic syndrome and other bone marrow failure conditions; lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), rare genetic disorders of the airways, and other rare lung diseases; episodic ataxia, Andersen-Tawil syndrome and nondystrophic myotonias; urea cycle disorders; rare pediatric liver diseases; and rare genetic steroid defects.