What causes cystic fibrosis (CF)?

What causes cystic fibrosis (CF)?

Cystic fibrosis is genetic. People who have CF inherit two faulty genes, one from each parent. CF is said to be recessive because you need to have two gene variants to have the condition itself. (An older name for gene variant is gene mutation.)

Your parents don’t have to have cystic fibrosis for you to have CF. In fact, many families don’t have a family history of CF. If your family doesn’t have a history of cystic fibrosis, the person with the gene variant is called the carrier. About 1 in 31 people in the U.S. is a carrier who is free of CF symptoms.