What is pre-implantation tissue typing?
For children with life limiting blood disorders such as Beta Thalassaemia, Fanconi’s Anaemia and Diamond Blackfan Anaemia, one of the best available treatments is a transfusion of stem cells from cord blood provided by a tissue-matched donor. Preimplantation tissue typing (PTT) offers parents the chance of conceiving a child who is a tissue match with their older sibling. A tissue matched donor who is a close relative of the recipient often means that treatment of the blood disorder is more likely to be successful than treatment using a tissue matched unrelated donor. In the media, those born following this procedure have sometimes been referred to as ‘saviour siblings’.
