Duplication of others stretches of DNA in humans are implicated in the development disorders spinal muscular atrophy and Prader-Willi syndrome.

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Arya had spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, a progressive and fatal disease in which the nerves that control the muscles slowly waste away.

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Spinal muscular atrophy is beset by most of these disadvantages.

FORBES: For Arya

On Friday, the Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights, which has been monitoring his condition, warned that he was "in immediate danger of death", adding that he had suffered "significant muscular atrophy".

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But Lady Campbell has a severe form of spinal muscular atrophy, a condition that means she uses a wheel chair and is reliant on a ventilator to breathe for much of the day.

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Claire Holdcroft is an outreach worker for the Jennifer Trust, which works with families affected by spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) - a neuromuscular disease from which babies can die within the first days of life.

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Moreover, while the patient base for Duchenne may be too small to spark a billion-dollar drug, the PTC chemical could work against similar underlying gene flaws in other disorders such as cystic fibrosis, hemophilia and spinal muscular atrophy.

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Cathy Ludlum, of Manchester, a disabled-rights activist who has spinal muscular atrophy, said she is concerned the Public Health Committee has decided to hold the public hearing and worries the issue of doctor-assisted suicide will not go away soon.

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