Nephrol Dial Transplant 1995: Editorial Comments 1795 Latest news on the major gene for polycystic kidney disease, PKD1

The gene responsible for the most common form of polycystic kidney disease, the PKD1 gene on chromo-some 16, was identified a year ago [1], giving a focus to the research into this important cause of renal failure. The first thing to do was to elucidate the primary structure of the gene. With a messenger RNA of an estimated 14000 nucleotides, spread over a piece of chromosome of approximately 50000 base pairs, this was an area where only the large research groups, or strong combinations of groups could compete. The focus on the PKD1 gene led to the appearance of three papers, each containing important and interesting pieces of the puzzle [2-4]. First, the American PKD Consortium reported the genomic sequence of the PKD1 gene, and deduce