Molecular Genetics of Galactosaemia

The three different enzymes of galactose metabolism (galactokinase, galactose‐1‐phosphate uridyltransferase, UDP‐galactose‐4‐epimerase) can be impaired by genetic alterations, leading to three different forms of the genetic disease, galactosaemia. Their clinical outcome can vary from very mild to lethal depending on the enzyme involved, and on the respective gene mutations, but a clear‐cut correlation between genotype and phenotype of patients is not yet known. Understanding the molecular genetics of galactosaemia is essential to correlate the genotype of the patients to their phenotype, and eventually to their clinical outcome. The prediction of the effects of genetic alterations on enzyme structure and functions is just the first step of the long journey towards the final scope: to render clinicians and scientific community the tools to predict the effect of a galactosaemia‐linked mutation on the future quality of life of an affected newborn, in order to provide the best personalised solutions for the treatment.