Infographic: Rare Disease by the Numbers

How rare conditions and research spending on them compare with more common diseases.

The Scientist Staff

Apr 30, 2018

NIH Funding in FY 2017

All Cancers Diagnosed in the U.S. 2009–2013

% of Americans Diagnosed

Defining Rare

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To flag neurons that have experienced genotoxic stress, researchers developed an in vivo sensor using an adeno-associated viral vector, called PRISM. Because a cell’s DNA damage response (DDR)—which activates in response to stressors such as environmental toxins or the buildup of misfolded proteins—also responds to invading pathogens, PRISM has an easier time transfecting cells whose damage response mechanisms are preoccupied with existing DNA damage. Once inside, the virus hijacks the neuron’s DNA replication machinery, which reverts an engineered frameshift mutation in the virus and thereby prompts the production of a fluorescent protein that can be observed via microscopy.

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