Pennsylvania scientists have located the gene that triggers a rare skeletal disease, giving an 8-year-old Glen Burnie boy and his family hope that a cure may be found in the coming years.

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva is a condition that turns muscle and other connective tissues into bone and immobilizes joints over time. Doctors think it affects about 2,500 people worldwide, though only about 500 cases have been confirmed.. Glen Burnie resident Wayne Gopshes is just one of three people in Maryland and 230 in the United States with the disease.

"Overall, I hope we get a cure, and that means getting my child's life...