A new study shows that a deletion-induced aberrant antisense transcript from a neighboring gene leads to methylation and silencing of the intact gene HBA2 (encoding human α-globin A2) in a family with α-thalassemia. Are there other chromosomal rearrangements that might turn off genes by such antisense-mediated cis-acting methylation?
- Dirk A Kleinjan
- Veronica van Heyningen
