Glover of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor - report their discovery of the Menkes' syndrome gene in the January Nature Genetics.
Packman's and Glover's groups found that the gene, which lies on the X chromosome, failed to function properly in 23 out of 32 unrelated patients with Menkes' syndrome. Monaco's group found that 16 of 100 such patients lacked portions of the gene.
Moreover, each of the research teams determined that the Menkes' syndrome gene strongly resembles bacterial genes known to transport copper across cell membranes.