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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What is the percentage of babies born with a mutation?
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Judy Miller, M.S.:
I retired several years ago from my position as genetic counselor after establishing a new program in cancer genetic at Carle Clinic in Urbana, IL. Prior to that, I worked for many years in a setting where I practiced genetic counseling where I worked with patients in all areas of genetics: pediatrics, prenatal, adult genetics, and metabolic. I participated in this chat room last year and enjoyed it very much!
We ALL have mutations! In most cases, the mutation is only in one copy of a pair of genes and the other copy of gene works fine and the person does not know they have a mutation. In most cases, mutations are inherited from a parent, but we may not be aware of a mutation that is new in the person (neither parent had the mutation) because the effects of the mutation may be small. The percentage of babies born with a mutation that has a major impact on their health in some time in their life is much smaller, perhaps around 10%. |
| Brownsville Area High School in PA (9th grade student) |
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