Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common, fatal genetic disease in the United States. About 30,000 people in the United States have the disease. CF causes the body to produce thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs, leads to infection, and blocks the pancreas, which stops digestive enzymes from reaching the intestine where they are required in order to digest food.
Mutations in a single gene—the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator (CFTR) gene—cause CF. The gene was discovered in 1989. Since then, more than 900 mutations of this single gene have been identified.
