All hereditary diseases – one test

According to researchers from the London Bridge Centre Artificial insemination clinic, the test, which costs fifteen hundred pounds (about $ 2,400), can detect 15,000 hereditary diseases, and the results of this test will be ready just a few weeks later. Until now, embryos could only be tested for mutation of certain genes, and it took much longer to wait for the results.

Currently, in clinics engaged in in vitro fertilization, it is possible to check the embryo for individual genetic diseases before it is implanted into a woman's uterus. Usually these tests are done if one of the family members suffers from a genetic disease. The new test, according to scientists, allows you to detect almost all known hereditary diseases.

The test requires one cell of an eight-day-old embryo conceived artificially. In addition, DNA tests of parents, their parents, as well as other family members, for example, children suffering from a genetic disease, are taken. Based on these data, as well as 300 thousand studied DNA markers, scientists create a genetic map of the family. This allows, for example, to determine whether any DNA chain was passed from the paternal grandfather to the sick child, and whether it is also present in the embryo, since all three will have these markers.

So, the gene for cystic fibrosis is located on the seventh chromosome. If the paternal grandfather was the carrier of this gene and the embryo inherited this piece of DNA in this particular position, then he will have a "sick" gene. Similar checks are carried out for all chromosomes.

According to Professor Alan Handyside, who developed this test, it will also help to establish a predisposition to serious diseases, such as, for example, diseases of the cardiovascular system or cancer.

Now this test is being tested at the London Bridge Centre clinic: it is used along with the usual genetic testing before embryo implantation. After the clinical trials, Professor Handyside will be able to apply to the Committee on Human Fertilization and Embryology for a license to use this test.

The chairman of the British Infertility Treatment Society, Mark Hamilton, is optimistic. "This test can help families who are at risk of genetic diseases. However, this raises an ethical problem: if you can check for anything, where exactly should you draw the line and stop?" he asks. Experts warn that the British Public Committee on Human Fertilization and Embryology (Human Fertility and Embryology Authority) will have to develop strict rules for the use of this test.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru according to the materials of the BBC

27.10.2008