HOUSTONâJustin Friendâs parents have doctoral degrees and have worked as university lecturers and researchers. So Mr. Friend might have been expected to head for a university after graduating from high school in Bryan, Texas, five years ago. Instead, he attended Texas State Technical College in Waco, and received a two-year degree in welding.
A flurry of emergent research has linked mitochondrial dysfunction to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. Mitochondrial dysfunction results in impaired ATP generation, loss of cellular repair mechanisms, and cellular inefficiency.
1 Identified a variant in a gene (VPS35) that is the latest gene identified to cause Parkinson's disease. 2  Discovered mutations in a gene (DCTN1) that produce a very severe form of parkinsonism associated with breathing difficulties and severe depression.ogether, Mayo physicians and researchers have discovered a number of genes that cause parkinsonian disorders. For example, Mayo researchers: 1  Found the gene leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) to be the most common genetic cause of late-onset, autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease.