Babies' DNA stay with the mother

MANY WOMEN carry around their offspring's DNA for the rest of their lives, say Italian researchers.

These can trigger life-threatening diseases, says a report in New Scientist.

Cells from a foetus are known to exist in the mother's body for decades after childbirth.

But now researchers have found foetal DNA in women after 60 years after childbirth.

Foetal cells have been blamed for autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma, a rare and sometimes fatal condition.

They think that the foetal cells mount an immune response against the mother's own cells, although the details remain a mystery.

The research also casts doubt on plans to test for inherited diseases in foetuses by looking for foetal cells in the mother's blood.

If the mother has already had one child, it would be difficult to tell which baby's DNA you are looking at, adds the team.