CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the publication of new research in the journal Human Molecular Genetics. The new study, performed in collaboration with scientists Xandra Breakefield, Ph.D., Bakhos Tannous, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Hewett, Ph.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital, describes the silencing of a key gene implicated in early onset torsion dystonia, known as mutant torsinA. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal posture. Early onset torsion dystonia affects approximately 1 in 30,000 – 300,000 persons and, in certain ethnic populations, is prevalent at a frequency of 1 in 10,000.
