CF is the most common fatal genetic disease in the U.S. today.

CF causes the body to produce abnormally thick sticky mucus. This clogs the lungs, impedes digestion of nutrients and causes a number of medical complications in the body. The main cause of death is from lung disease caused by chronic long-term lung infection by bacteria and the body’s fight against these infections.

CF occurs in one of every 3,300 babies and affect 30,000 children and young adults in the US alone. To get CF a person must inherit the recessive gene from each parent. One in every 29 of us are unknowing carriers (as my wife and I were).

Two years ago the average age of survival was 26 years old. Over the last decade or so, treatment has progressed so that now the average survival age is 31. Improved treatments mean the median survival age gets better every year.

Ten years ago scientists isolated the gene found responsible for the disease. Today clinical trials are on-going to try to replace the defective gene with a healthy one on body cells of affected persons.