2010 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2010. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

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is cancer in a child's DNA if only one parent got it?
     Alan Guttmacher, M.D.: I serve as the Acting Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development where I oversee the institutes efforts to conduct and support research on the health of children, adults, families, and populations. My areas of expertise include pediatrics, medical genetics, and the development of new approaches for translating the findings of the Human Genome Project into better ways of diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease. cancers are usually caused when a series of genes in a specific cell accumulate mutations or changes. Usually these changes occur only in somatic (of the body ) cells. Occasionally some of them may also occur in germ cells (the cells of the egg or sperm). It is only mutations that occur in germ cells that can be passed on to the next generation. The chance of developing cancer if one of your parents has cancer depends on many factors - particularly the type of cancer. If this a question that anyone wants to pursue further, there are specialists known as genetic counselors that can go over your own family history with you and help figure this out.
East Haven High School in CT (10th grade student)

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