Gaza Strip families in scientific discovery

A previously undiscovered link between the formation of teeth and eyes has been uncovered by University of Leeds researchers, through studies in three families living in a village in the war-torn Gaza strip. Funded by the Wellcome Trust and Yorkshire Eye Research the project team sought to identify the cause of a condition they named Jalili syndrome in which related individuals suffered loss of eyesight, almost from birth, and poorly developed teeth.  Jalili syndrome is named after team member Ismail Jalili, who travelled regularly to Gaza and the occupied West Bank trouble spots to collect blood samples in 2008.