New gene, protein for crossed eyes. (News Notes).(Brief Article)

Congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles (CFEOM) consists of several distinct disorders, but in each case infants are born with eyes that face in various directions and do not work together to create binocular vision. Droopy eyelids, or ptosis, is frequently seen with this condition. In her lab at Harvard University, Elizabeth Engle succeeded in cloning the so-called Arix gene and its protein for one form of congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles, which she terms CFEOM 2. This is an autosomal recessive disorder, as reported at the recent New York Academy of Sciences meeting on eye movement disorders at Case Western Reserve University and in publication (M. Nakano …