Science / Medicine : Muscular Dystrophy Test

A biotechnology company announced it was making available a genetic test to the general public to detect the most common form of muscular dystrophy.

Integrated Genetics Inc. of Framingham, Mass., said the test for Duchenne muscular dystrophy will offer thousands of women an accurate way to determine if they are carrying the devastating disease or if their babies inherited it.

The test, performed in a doctor’s office, will cost from $2,700 to $10,000 depending on the extent of the analysis, company spokesman Peter Lanciano said, but most insurance companies will cover at least 80% of the cost.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy strikes about one in 3,300 babies born in the United States, causing a steady deterioration of muscles. Boys are far more likely to inherit the disease than girls.

Harvard University researchers reported in 1986 that they had located the gene that causes the disease, raising hopes of developing more accurate screening tests and a way to treat the disease. Using that research, scientists developed a test to screen women to see if they are carrying the defect that causes the disease and to test fetuses to see if they inherited the defect.