The first child in the world free from hereditary blidness is born at our institute

The Instituto Bernabeu of Alicante used an embryo selection technique in the In Vitro Fertilization process, in Alicante the 22nd July 2004.

The Instituto Bernabeu in Alicante has succeeded in eliminating a hereditary disease from a family’s genetic code. Using an embryo selection technique during the in vitro fertilisation process, the world’s first baby girl free of retinoschisis, a condition that causes blindness in 50% of offspring, has been born. Nine months ago, two embryos free of this disease were obtained using the selection technique.

The treatment culminated in the birth of Luz, a girl who, according to postnatal studies, neither suffers from nor carries the disease. This has broken the chain of genetic transmission and ensured that her future offspring will be free from retinoschisis.

Retinoschisis is characterised by the separation of the optic nerve from the cornea, induced by a cleft in the retina, which appears in the layer of nerve fibres (juvenile form) or in the outer plexiform layer (adult form). It is a genetically transmitted disease that affects 50% of offspring.

The process usually begins in the early years of a child’s life and leads to a gradual loss of vision. It is the most common congenital degenerative retinal disease in males. It is an X-linked disease, which means that males suffer from it and females are carriers.