DeCode's effort focuses on an obscure gene that makes a substance called 5-lipoxygenase activating protein, or Flap.

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She focused on a protein called 5-lipoxygenase, a key enzyme that spurs the body to produce leukotrienes.

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Her team tested mice in which the 5-lipoxygenase gene had been deleted.

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They found that a mutation in a related gene, 5-lipoxygenase, is present in 6% of American adults and vastly speeds up the development of atherosclerosis.

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The researchers found that 6% of the patients had a mutation in the 5-lipoxygenase gene and experienced accelerated atherosclerosis compared with the other patients, according to results published in January in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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