RGD uses the Human Disease Ontology (DO, https://disease-ontology.org/) for disease curation across species. RGD automatically downloads each new release of the ontology on a monthly basis. Some additional terms which are required for RGD's curation purposes but are not currently covered in the official version of DO have been added. As corresponding terms are added to DO, these custom terms are retired and the DO terms substituted in existing annotations and subsequently used for curation.
A multiple synostoses syndrome that is characterized by progressive joint fusions of the fingers, wrists, ankles, and cervical spine; characteristic facies, including a broad hemicylindrical nose; and progressive conductive hearing loss and that has_material_basis_in heterozygous mutation in the GDF5 gene on chromosome 20q11. (DO)