The Down's syndrome 'super genome'

(Université de Genève) Only 20 percent of foetuses with trisomy 21 reach full term. But how do they manage to survive the first trimester of pregnancy despite this heavy handicap? Researchers from UNIGE and UNIL have found that children born with Down's syndrome have an excellent genome - better than the average genome of people without the genetic abnormality. It is possible that this genome offsets the disabilities caused by the extra chromosome, helping the foetus to survive.