Scientists discover primitive organism to help with disease research

A newly discovered primitive organism can be used in medical research in battling Huntington\’s disease and Alzheimer\’s disease, said a report released on Saturday.
The organism, called Hydra, is a microscopic animal that lives in freshwater and each organism has 24,000 genes, roughly as many genes as a human, the University of California in Irvine said in a news release.
The small creatures have genes similar to the particular human genes that mutate to cause Huntington\’s disease and Alzheimer\’s disease. It makes the Hydra an easy and inexpensive lab animal for genetic research, which may bring major breakthroughs for the dread illnesses, the release said.
\”While Hydra doesn\’t have a brain, it does have a nervous system,\” said Rob Steele, chairman of biological chemisty at the university.
\”So it might be interesting and informative to see what would happen\” if the mutated human disease-causing versions of human genes were spliced into the small creatures, he said.
\”I think Hydra\’s simplicity and ease of experimental manipulation make it an attractive system for exploring the basic mechanisms of biological processes that are relevant to human disease,\” Steele said, \”And Hydra is really cheap to use as a lab animal.\”
The research was conducted by an international team led by Steele, said the release.
Huntington\’s disease is a disorder passed down through families in which certain nerve cells in the brain waste away, or degenerate.
Alzheimer\’s disease is a progressive and fatal brain disease that destroys brain cells, causing memory loss and problems with thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life.