KAUST Scientists Discover Gene Linked to Pediatric Heart Defects
27 February, 2025
New research by KAUST scientists has identified that the gene ‘CIROZ’ is responsible for pediatric heart defects and the misplacement of internal organs. The findings come from working with multiple institutes worldwide, including two universities and two hospitals in the Kingdom. It provides new information on heritable diseases, which have a higher rate in Saudi Arabia than worldwide.
Joining a team of scientists and medical doctors from leading research hospitals and medical institutions across the region including Saudi Arabia, KAUST Professor Bruno Reversade explains the implications of the unique Middle Eastern demography in a new perspective written in Nature Genetics. The perspective refers to the identification of several genes related to inherited diseases that emerged from studying populations in the greater Middle East.