health

FA is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder. Autosomal recessive disorders
are diseases in which both parents must be carriers of the gene in
order for their child to inherit the condition. If both parents are carriers,
there is a 25 percent risk for the child to be affected by the disease. There
are at least 13 known genes that can be mutated (changed) and cause
FA. Only one of these 13 is needed to cause the disease. The proteins
expressed by these genes may cause DNA damage that affect bodily
processes such as blood production by the bone marrow and the start of
cancer. However, the exact mechanism by which these gene mutations
cause birth defects, bone marrow failure, and cancer was not known as
of 2009.