Downs syndrome may be treatable in the womb

clipped from www.newscientist.com 26 November 2008 by Aria Pearson A PREGNANT woman who knows her unborn child has Down's syndrome might one day be able to prevent some symptoms before giving birth. That at least is the hope raised by experiments in mice. When fetal mouse pups that had a syndrome similar to Down's were treated with nerve-protecting chemicals, some of the developmental delays that are part of the condition were removed. Children with Down's have an extra copy of chromosome 21, while mice engineered to have a similar condition are given an extra copy of a segment of chromosome 16. In both species, the development of certain motor and sensory abilities is delayed. These "trisomic" individuals may also have learning difficulties and symptoms of Alzheimer's later in life. Inhibiting the neurotransmitter GABA in trisomic mice can improve cognition and some have suggested this could be used in children. It would be even better, however, to treat Down's before a child is born and so improve cognitive potential.