For the first time in history, a team of scientists has analyzed the DNA sequence of two parents and two children who are members of the same family. According to experts, this is one of the greatest advances in this area since the human genome was first decoded in 2003.
Genetic analysis has made it possible to estimate the average rate of genetic mutations that parents transmit to their offspring and to precisely locate the regions of the chromosomes where the exchanges of genetic information between parents take place to create new genetic characteristics in their children, as explained researchers from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle (USA) in the journal Science .
Comparing the DNA sequences of the parents with those of their children, the scientists estimated with a high degree of certainty that each of the two parents bequeath 30 mutations, or 60 in total . Until now, scientists considered that each parent transmitted an average of 75 genetic mutations to their children, that is, more than double. Most of the mutations passed on by parents have no consequences for the health of their children, based on current medical knowledge, the researchers stressed.
The researchers predict that their family genome sequencing method will be incorporated into most patients' personal medical records in the not too distant future.
