Dialing back stiffness may protect muscles in myotonic dystrophy

Article excerpt

For decades, researchers studying myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) have focused on the disease's underlying genetic cause: a mutation that produces a toxic form of RNA, disrupting the normal processing of thousands of genetic messages inside cells. While scientists have known this widespread disruption contributes to disease, it has remained unclear which changes are most responsible for the progressive muscle weakness and wasting experienced by people living with DM1.