Scientists have identified a genetic defect linked to migraine which could point the way to new avenues of research and treatment targets. An international team found the TRESK gene in a family with migraines, the Nature Genetics study said. Dr Zameel Cader, who was involved in the study, said the type of gene flaw identified was "really amenable" to finding drugs to work against it. Experts said the research was "an important part in the puzzle". They also said it shows for the first time a genetic location to examine. A migraine is a severe, long-lasting headache usually felt as a throbbing pain at the front or on one side of the head. One in five people around the world suffer from them, and the World Health Organization rates migraine as a leading cause of disability worldwide. Some can have a warning visual disturbance, called an aura, before the start of the headache, and many people also have symptoms such as nausea and sensitivity to light during the headache itself. Until now, the genes responsible have been unknown. In this study, scientists including some from the Medical Research Council's Functional Genomics Unit at the University of Oxford found the TRESK gene was directly attributable as a cause of migraine. The study found that if the gene known as TRESK does not work properly, it can more easily trigger pain centres in the brain and cause a severe headache. The international team used DNA samples from people with common familial migraine to identify the defective gene. 'Activate' gene Dr Aarno Palotie, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said the breakthrough could eventually lead to new drugs which could switch off the pain of migraines. "What it then does is... it opens new avenues for planning new research which possibly could then lead to new treatments... but of course it's a long road." Dr Cader, who was one of the MRC researchers involved in the study, said: "We have now made a major step forward in our understanding of why people suffer with migraine. "Previous studies have identified parts of our DNA that increase the risk in the general population, but have not found genes which can be directly responsible for common migraine. "What we've found is that migraines seem to depend on how excitable our nerves are in specific parts of the brain. "Finding the key player which controls this excitability will give us a real opportunity to find a new way to fight migraines and improve the quality of life for those suffering." He also told the BBC's Today programme that the research showed the defective gene in migraine patients was under-active, therefore causing the headaches. "So what we want to do is find a drug that will activate the gene," he said. Professor Peter Goadsby, trustee of The Migraine Trust, said: "The identification of a mutation in a gene for the potassium channel in a family with migraine with aura provides both a further important part of the puzzle in understanding the biology of migraine, and a novel direction to consider new therapies in this very disabling condition." Source: BBC