Research Paper on:
Cystic Fibrosis and its Cellular Basis

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Included in this paper is what is known about the disease process, why the research was undertaken and what it contributes to the knowledge of pathobiology. THE DISEASE PROCESS  OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS Cystic Fibrosis has been identified as being one of the most common and lethal disorders in Caucasians. The disorder is characterized by chronic respiratory infections  and the patient usually has to undergo daily treatments to clear the lungs of mucous. These treatments can consist of rapid and firm blows to the patients back in  order to knock loose congestion in the lungs that can then be removed by coughing or suction. The patient suffers and has quite a painful time undergoing breathing treatments  and indeed, even trying to go anywhere is a major undertaking as one must always keep the diseae in mind. "Cystic Fibrosis is caused by mutations in the gene encoding  a protein termed cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator" according to an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science vol. 98 (Poschet and Boucher et al, 2001, 13972).  However the exact connection between this and the bacterial infections common to Cystic Fibrosis have not been fully identified nor confirmed. It is speculated that the cystic  fibrosis transmembrane, which is a mutation causing the disease as explained above, can affect the "intracellular localization, and activity of this protein" (Poschet and Boucher et al, 2001, 13972).  There is a hypothesis relating that there is a high-salt content in the lung secretions of those affected with cystic fibrosis and that this is linked to the problem but  this hypothesis has not been confirmed. A contrasting hypothesis states that because of low-sodium and water content due to hyperabsorption of these could be the cause of the disease