Newcastle University - Mutation implicated in eczema

Scientists at Newcastle University have found a gene mutation that is an important cause of eczema and dry skin in children. A faulty version of the gene, filaggrin, causes the condition in 4 per cent of cases, but if both parents carry the gene, the risk of their offspring getting eczema shoots up to 90 per cent. The study of more than 800 children found that 24 per cent had some degree of eczema. The research used DNA from blood samples given when babies were born at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven between 1996 and 2003 as part of the North Cumbria Community Genetics Project. It also collected data at 41 schools in the region.