Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of US had approved the first test that uses DNA in blood to diagnose cystic fibrosis.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of US had approved the first test that uses DNA in blood to diagnose cystic fibrosis.
The test is called Tag-It Cystic Fibrosis Kit and it can analyze DNA samples from the blood and detect genes that carry the strains of the disease, both in children and in adults. The test can not only predict the advent of the disease in people, but it can also identify the people who are not having the disease but are the carriers of the genetic strain.Cystic fibrosis is disease of genetic origin that causes the body to produce thick mucus that affects the lungs and can cause severe and fatal lung infections. These secretions can also affect pancreas and cause serious problems of food digestion. Cystic fibrosis is expressed as a disease in a child when he inherits the faulty genes from both the parents.
The FDA approved Tag-It test identifies a set of genetic variations called cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator” or CFTR gene. However, FDA said that the test should not be used alone, in totality, to diagnose the disease, as it can only detect a limited number of variations of CFTR gene, and there exists about 1300 genetic variations of CFTR gene
