Genetic check-up commenced in Azerbaijan

Source: AzerNews

Azerbaijan has started to carry out genetic testing for newborns and those who intend to marry.

We often hear about kinship marriages and their negative consequences. In fact, marriage between close relatives increases the likelihood of inheriting mutation and children's developing severe genetic diseases. Nonetheless, the practice of kinship marriages in Azerbaijan is still in existence.

PhD Elkhan Rasulov, geneticist at the Republican Treatment and Diagnostics Center, said that the problem of kinship marriages in Azerbaijan still has not lost its relevance.

"According to the survey I conducted among the students, the parents of about 18-19 percent of respondents are relatives. Most of those who apply to us are also relatives. They pass this checkup because they are worried about their children's future," Rasulov said.

Rasulov said it is great when those getting married, particularly relatives, undergo genetic testing.

"The presence or absence of genetic abnormalities will be detected with the aid of genetic testing," he said.

If one is a carrier of a genetic disease, it is determined what type of inheritance it relates to and the risk of its occurrence in the future generation is evaluated. Based on this research it is possible to outline ways of preventing that disease.

In order to carry out genetic testing, blood samples of newborns are taken for a test on the third day after birth. This allows determining whether the child has congenital hypothyroidism, phenylketonuria, galactosemia and other diseases.

One of the negative effects of kinship marriages is the spread of genetic diseases. About 70 percent of children born of such marriages are said to suffer from various incurable diseases.

According to statistics, only one in a hundred thousand people is reportedly a hemophiliac, while there are up to 100 patients in some residential areas of Azerbaijan and most of them are children.