The illnesses it could tackle

PARENTS at risk of passing on genetic conditions to their children can only currently prevent it with embryo screening.

This means undergoing IVF, during which doctors cherry-pick embryos that do not appear to carry the mutated gene. But it is a genetic lottery and, devastatingly, all embryos could be carriers.

The new research offers hope of cutting out more than 10,000 conditions involving genetic faults inherited from one parent. These single-gene conditions include Huntington’s disease – an incurable condition which causes pro- gressively worsening brain damage with tremors, personality change and mobility problems.

There is also Marfan syndrome, a disorder of the body’s connective tissues that can cause vision and heart problems.

Achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, and type 1 neurofibromatosis, which affects one in 3,000 babies and causes tumours to grow along their nerves, are also caused by a single gene.

Diseases involving genes from both parents, such as cystic fibrosis, would be far more challenging at this stage.