Gene mapping and cystic fibrosis

The recent molecular cloning of the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis illustrates the importance of human gene mapping to clinical medicine. Identification of a 3bp detection (delta F508) in the majority of cystic fibrosis patients will result in more accurate DNA-based diagnostic testing in cystic fibrosis families, as well as providing clues to the basic molecular defect and its relationship with alterations of anion transport in cystic fibrosis epithelial cells.