Scleroderma genes under study

Scientists at three universities worked together on a study to determine which genes are active in scleroderma, a disorder in which connective tissue grows abnormally, causing painful hardening of the skin. This study found gene activity throughout the skin of people with scleroderma, which suggests that the disorder may be systemic rather than just in the skin where it is visible.

The researchers found 2,776 genes with a different level of activity in scleroderma than in normal skin. Studies can now work on weeding out which of those genes are the ones responsible for the disorder.