Keeping Australia Alive

Last year, Carly and Nick got in touch with Genea to investigate how they could avoid passing on Cystic Fibrosis to their next child after discovering they were both CF carriers following the birth of their first son Dash.

In an effort to raise awareness about Cystic Fibrosis, Carly and Nick agreed to let Keeping Australia Alive follow them through the early stages of their IVF treatment. In the 12 April episode, Carly and Nick visit Genea Fertility Specialist Dr Toby Angstmann to learn how Genea’s world leading GeneSure Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)  can help them to conceive a healthy second child.

At Genea, we’ve led the way in investigating and developing PGD in Australia and our expertise and techniques are amongst the best in the world. PGD is a scientific technique used during an IVF cycle which allows Genea scientists to conduct genetic tests on an embryo. These tests help us to rule out embryos that contain an obvious genetic abnormality and only go on to transfer embryos which have been found to be clear of these serious conditions. Testing can involve either a count of the chromosomes and/or a molecular examination for a particular gene or mutation.

Genea first launched chromosome testing of embryos in 1995 and expanded that treatment to offering single gene testing in 1998. Our techniques have developed and expanded since we first conducted genetic testing and many clinics have followed our lead and modelled their tests on ours.

More than 2,000 single gene disorders have been identified and Genea is capable of building a test for any one of them. To date, we’ve been asked to test for more than 200 disorders, more than any other clinic, and we’ve developed specific tests for each one, including some very rare disorders.

 
Disclaimer: Please note that this is a Genea Group blog and as such information may not be relevant for all clinics. We advise that you consult clinics directly for further information.