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Researchers led by Terra D. Barnes of Washington University discovered that their genetically-engineered mice stutter due to DNA defects in a humdrum "housekeeping" gene. This gene codes for a protein that simply places a "routing tag" on certain enzymes that shred cellular trash. The tag ensures that the shredding enzymes end up in chambers called lysosomes, basically the cell's garbage disposal. It's a mundane cellular activity, yet mutations in the same process in humans have also been linked to stuttering-a bizarrely specific condition for such a general gene. And, so far, scientists have no idea why the two are linked.