The search for a medicine for Down's syndrome towards an International research alliance
We have made the footage available free to parents and researchers here. We hope you will enjoy hearing some of the very best scientists speaking about their research and what we do and don't yet know about Down's syndrome medical research.
Give everyone with DS a chance to live a more healthy life
We understand the challenges, talk to the researchers and initiate important research.
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Welcome
We are a UK Registered Charity with International Links and a objective to improve the outcome for all people born with Trisomy 21 (T21) which is the cause of Down syndrome (DS), and the most common cause (at birth) of learning disability (mental handicap).
Trisomy 21 happens at conception. About 1 in 400 babies are concieved with three copies of chomosome 21. Read more about T21 in the FAQ section. People with T21 have very full, happy and active lives but most have some form of intellectual disability and increased rates of congential and some acquired conditions.
For many years scientists believed that it was impossible to do anything to treat or intervene medically to lessen the effects of T21 in the person's health and welbeing. The main reason for this was the fact that there are over 500 genes on chromosome 21. However exciting advances within the last 10 years have linked particular genes and biochemical pathways to the particular problems seen in T21.
It is now felt it is more than a hope that T21 can have treatment or treatments to help them live a life they choose. The majority of the medical and scientific community are unaware of these advances. Drug company Roche announced a upcoming clinical trial for people with T21. We hope many more will come soon, but we need your help.
In the UK, about one birth per 1000 the baby has Down syndrome, about 700 births each year. In the USA there will be about 4,000 births and in Europe 5,000 births.
Our mission is to lobby for and undertake research which will help to identify and develop interventions which alleviate the medical, physical, developmental and cognitive conditions associated with Trisomy 21 (T21) which are collectively described as Down’s syndrome.
At the backbone of our work is the premise that people with T21 also deserve the innovation and improved research techniques seen and used to research and treat other conditions and illnesses over the last 50 years. This is regardless of the screening programmes offered, however precise. We do not see antenatal screening as a 'treatment' for T21.
Our charity has an understanding of the challenges, the latest technologies and a good relationship with many important researchers. We have a dynamic, realistic but hopeful view of the potential of good medical research for people with T21. We are leading the way in promoting and facilitating medical research for T21 in the UK and the rest of the world.
