CYPRUS has a higher than average incidence rate of inherited genetic diseases.
While the reasons are not quite clear, experts believe inherited diseases could have been maintained in the population due to the different influences Cyprus had over the years as well as the fact that the island is made up of a small, segregated and homogenous population.
The most common inherited genetic disease in Cyprus with a higher rate than in other countries is thalassaemia, an inherited autosomal recessive blood disease.
Other common inherited genetic diseases are some muscle diseases, neurogenetic disorders and inherited deafness, said Dr Leonidas Fylaktou, Head of the Molecular Genetics, Function and Therapy Department at the Institute of Neurology and Genetics.
Fylaktou said: “We believe 2.5 per cent of the population is a carrier of the gene for inherited deafness.”
He said this was a percentage which coincided with the rest of Europe.
The senior scientist was speaking following a news conference to mark today’s World DNA Day.
Fylaktou said the Institute had wanted to raise awareness about DNA and its significance, as well as to raise its own profile.
“It’s like all other ‘world days’. It’s to remind people it exists. The identity of DNA, what it does, how involved it is in life, the applications of DNA and how it can be used for diagnostic and research purposes,” he said.
The scientist said DNA was something people read and heard about daily.
“It’s everywhere now. We wanted to give a small description of what DNA is and what it does,” said Fylaktou.
DNA Day is celebrated on April 25 every year to commemorate the discovery of DNA structure and the completion of the Human Genome Project.
In 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick published the double-helix structure of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. They published their findings in the journal Nature. The identification of the DNA model was a major turning point in the field of genetics as it helped answer how genetic information was stored and copied.
Completed in 2003, the Human Genome Programme took 13 years to complete and was an international research effort in order to map the entire human genome.
“It is well known that in our country there is an increased frequency of inherited diseases which burden patients’ families and the state.
“Cyprus is reasonably active and successful in the field of genetics, both in diagnostics and in researching inherited diseases. In the last 15 years there have been serious efforts in Cyprus to diagnose, prevent and research genetic diseases which yielded beneficial results in many patients,” the news conference heard.
With the knowledge of the chemical structure of DNA, it has become possible to understand genetic disorders that were present since a long time. By combining its research and services, the Institute said its primary goal was to improve the health and quality of life of people in Cyprus.
The news conference was organised by the Institute of Neurology and Genetics and the Cyprus Society of Human Genetics.
As well as Fylaktou, speakers included ING medical director Dr Philippos Patsalis, Human Genetics Society head Dr Violetta Anastasiadou.
