GREENWOOD, SC (FOX Carolina) – About an hour south of Greenville, miles down country roads sits the Greenwood Genetics Center. The campus, with its backdrop of greenery and fountains, includes several buildings. This year the leaders are celebrating their 50th anniversary. They have come a long way with research, diagnosis and treatment of patients.
Three-year-old Nora can run, jump and play. She has met most of her childhood developmental milestones. But her life would have been completely different if not for early treatment and diagnosis.
When Nora was born, she had trouble breathing, so she was taken to the nursery, said Nora’s mother, Luci Eysen. That’s when they discovered she had an enlarged heart muscle.
Within days, Nora was diagnosed with Infantile Pompe Disease.
I was sick to my stomach, terrified and confused, Eysen said. You look at this disease on the internet and you see horrible things, like dying at the age of two.
Nora lacks an enzyme that is needed to break down glucose. Thanks to treatment through the Greenwood Genetic Center, she is able to receive a transfusion every week to replenish that enzyme. Luci says a newborn screening test is the reason her daughter is so healthy.
He was added to South Carolina’s newborn screening in February 2021, and she was born in August 2021, Eysen said. The Greenwood Genetics Center played a major role in adding this to newborn screening.
The center is involved in more than just the patient side of genetics. It started in 1974. If you’re wondering why Greenwood, thank James Self. He was the owner of Greenwood Mills and convinced Dr. Roger Stevenson and Dr. Hal Taylor to open the center here.
He was fascinated by genetics, said Greenwood Genetics Center CEO Dr. Steven Skinner. He supported him politically and financially.
Dr. Skinner has now taken over. He and his colleagues are leading the way in the most advanced diagnostic testing, research and treatment for genetic disorders.
You always want to be at the forefront of learning new knowledge and bringing it back to the patient, said Dr. Skinner.
They also want to educate the next generation. A mobile science lab travels across the state and gives nearly 10,000 students hands-on learning experience.
“Especially in some of our rural schools, they may not have the funding to expose students to the newest technology,” Skinner said. So it keeps the teachers up to date, but hopefully the students, piques their interest as well.
Dr. Skinner is most excited about the future. He thinks artificial intelligence can play a big role in helping us understand genes. Currently, they use it to analyze a patient’s DNA and help with diagnosis.
The car resolves, oh, this looks different, this looks normal, this is a high priority and this is a low priority, Skinner said.
The goal is to move from treatment to recovery.
Someday, maybe, that’s the goal, yes, Skinner said.
The Greenwood Genetics Center also received state funding to study how mitochondria play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
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