For the first time in the world, South Korean scientists have identified a gene mutation which causes epileptic seizures or medically refractory epilepsy.
 
A team led by Professor Kim Dong-seok at Severance Hospital and another team led by Lee Jeong-ho at the Korean Advanced Institute for Science and Technology (KAIST) said on Tuesday that they identified the gene after analyzing some 70 patients who received epilepsy surgery.
 
The teams said that they planted the gene in mice to cause epilepsy, and an injection of certain drugs led to a sharp decrease in their epileptic seizures.
 
About one percent of the population suffers from epilepsy, and no drugs are effective in controlling seizures in 30 percent of the patients.
 
The latest findings appeared in the Tuesday online edition of Nature Medicine.