Researchers from Brazilian University of Campinas (Unicamps) said in a report published on Tuesday that they had discovered for the first time a new mutation on the GATA-1 gene that codifies the GATA-1 and GATA-1S proteins.

The two proteins contribute to the production and differentiation of blood cells, the study published in the latest on-line edition of science magazine Nature Genetics said.

The researchers' work proved, for the first time, the connection between the two proteins and the normal formation of blood. Before the publishing of their article, the consequences of mutations that prevented the performance of the GATA-1 protein were not known.

Unicamps general coordinator and research team leader Fernando Ferreira Costa said the discovery is extremely important.

In the future, the possibility of increasing or reducing the production of specific kind of cells to treat blood diseases will depend on the contribution brought by this kind of research, Costa said.

Source: Xinhua