Hi Everyone,

Have you seen this? It was posted on PLWP2.

New cost-effective Parkinson's disease test
MELBOURNE, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Australian scientists have developed a
diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease, which will also help
researchers understand its genetics.

Currently there is no specific Parkinson's disease diagnostic test,
and doctors rely on their observations to make a diagnosis, which
means some patients may not be prescribed the most suitable
medication and around 15 percent of those diagnosed may actually be
suffering from something else, says research leader Dr. Justin Rubio
of the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne.

Conventional DNA sequencing of all six known Parkinson's disease
genes is available, but this test costs $3,166 and is not covered by
Medicare.

Rubio's team has created a "gene-sequencing chip" that screens 17
genes in all, including the six known Parkinson's disease genes plus
some other suspects in one simple test that costs $395.

© Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc.