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The Genetics of Neonatal Surgical Conditions

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Rickham's Neonatal Surgery

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Abstract

It is noteworthy that in 1953, the same year that Peter Paul Rickham was establishing the first neonatal surgical unit at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, just 200 miles away in Cambridge, Francis Crick and James Watson were unraveling the structure of DNA, the fundamental genetic material. Crick and Watson’s Nobel Prize winning work describing the double helix structure of DNA also described a mechanism for its replication. The two parent DNA strands each acting as the framework for copying into the two daughter strands. The usual accuracy of the copying of billions of base-pairs into gametes at meiosis and daughter cells during mitosis is itself a marvel. Changes in the usually faithful copying of DNA strands (mutations) can be the basis of positive genetic change that encourages our evolution over generations. Or the sudden deleterious change in a DNA sequence may be the pathogenic mutation that underlies a congenital malformation that presents to a neonatal surgeon. Here lies the origin of many neonatal surgical conditions and ultimately important clues to their improved management and ultimately their reduction or even prevention.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Genetics, Liverpool Women’s Hospital, Liverpool, UK

    Ian Ellis BSc, MBBS, FRCP

Authors
  1. Ian Ellis BSc, MBBS, FRCP
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Correspondence to Ian Ellis BSc, MBBS, FRCP .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Child Health, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Paul D. Losty

  2. University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Alan W. Flake

  3. Childrens Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Risto J. Rintala

  4. Royal Children’s Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    John M. Hutson

  5. Department of Surgery, Meiji University of Integrative Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

    Naomi lwai

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Ellis, I. (2018). The Genetics of Neonatal Surgical Conditions. In: Losty, P., Flake, A., Rintala, R., Hutson, J., lwai, N. (eds) Rickham's Neonatal Surgery. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4721-3_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4721-3_16

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-4721-3

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