First blog post

The genetic disease I choose to research this semester is Phenylketonuria (PKU). PKU is autosomal recessive and is due to mutations in the PAH gene.  It is an inherited disorder affecting amino acid metabolism. Individuals that inherit PKU are at risk of mental retardation or other serious problems if they do not follow dietary treatments that restrict phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is found in food proteins and in some artificial sweeteners. I choose this disorder because I am interested in nutrition and learning more about nutritional genomics.