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Miscarriage

A breakthrough in gene technology will help thousands of women who suffer recurrent miscarriages.

Previously women with the genetic abnormality known as chromosomal translocations, have been given little hope of ever having a child.

The condition, although harmless to the carrier, causes the genetic structure of a foetus to break down and fail.

But now doctors using IVF techniques have developed a way of screening out embryos carrying the translocators.

Only embryos without the abnormality are implanted in the mother's womb and the work has so far resulted in the birth of 11 healthy babies.

The technique was developed at Guys and St Thomas hospital in London and similar work is being carried out at Leeds and at the private, Care At The Park Hospital in Nottingham.

A similar pre-implementation genetic diagnosis technique has sucessfully been used to screen embryos for cystic fibrosis.

The results of a wide public consultation on the ethics of such genetic manipulation will be published next month but indications are that while people favour screening for heridity damaging conditions, they are appalled at the prospect of 'designer babies.'

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