Researchers have found that a single gene, Lamin A (LMNA), mutation is responsible for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria. It makes a protein needed to hold a nucleus together and lacking it can lead to unstable cells, which seems to lead to the rapid aging characteristic. However, progeria isn't passed down in families, it is a occurence that happens to the egg or sperm cell just before conception. So neither parent of a child born with this disorder is the carrier. Some other kinds of progeroid syndromes do run in families though, such as Wiedemann-Rautenstrauch syndrome where the rapid aging begins in the womb, and signs and symptoms are apparent at birth.
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