UK Boy has world's rarest Genetic Disorder

Every little boy is unique to their parents but six year old Mackenzie Fox-Byrne is also special to the scientific world. He is thought to have the world's rarest genetic disorder because he is the only person on earth known to suffer from it.

Mackenzie, whose condition has given him learning difficulties and left him unable to speak, is the result of a gene mutation doctors have never seen before.

his development appeared to be behind that of her other children, Kamara, 14, and Katie, 12.

At three months old, he was still not lifting his head from his cot, he found it difficult to hold down food and had trouble sleeping.

Doctors initially feared he might have the muscle-wasting disease Muscular Dystrophy, but instead tests results showed a much more bewildering picture.

Mrs Fox-Byrne, 40, of Market Drayton, Shropshire, said: "They knew it was unique and told me excitedly that they had found something rare that no one else has.

"Unfortunately, that was all they could tell me. They couldn't tell me how he is going to progress or whether he might fall ill in the future.

"No one else on earth has ever had this condition."

Mackenzie's test results showed he had a triplication of a small region on the long arm of his X-chromosome.

At the moment the little boy cannot speak, has low muscle tone, is still in nappies and has no sense of danger.

He also has learning difficulties which mean he has the mental age of a two-year-old and goes to a special school in Shrewsbury.

Mrs Fox-Byrne, who lives with her partner Andy, 47, said: "It's quite terrifying to be told he is the only person in the world to have this condition.

"Although we worry about what might happen to him in the future, I just try to put it out of my mind. You could go crazy thinking about it."

Karen Temple, professor of medical genetics at Wessex Clinical Genetics Service confirmed Mackenzie was a totally unique case.

She said: "We have to learn what we can from the little boy as he grows up.

"The problem with Mackenzie isn't that he has got genes missing – as is the case sometimes – it's that he has got extra parts.

"This little boy has had this chromosome problem since he was conceived, we can learn from how he is now and that helps us to predict his future."

"Stateless" Mynamar Boy Comes 3rd in Japan Paper Airplane Contest

Mong Thongdee, a 12 -year-old stateless who was born in Thailand to Myanmar migrants, competes during the team indoor flight duration competition at the All-Japan Origami Airplane Contest in Makuhari, near Tokyo, on Saturday.

A Mynamar boy who the Thai Government claim is "Stateless" and has no 'official nationality' even though he lives in Thailand, has captured third place in a Japanese paper airplane contest on Sunday. Only after he made extensive tearful pleas to be allowed to attend the contest, did the authorities decide to grant him a rare 'temporary' passport for the event.

Mong Thongdee, 12, won a national paper airplane championship in Thailand in August 2008 after he threw a plane that flew for 12 seconds, and was later chosen to attend the Japanese contest in Chiba, near Tokyo.

Mong, who lives in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, is the son of Myanmar migrants and they have officially been declared 'stateless', by the Thai Government and therefore have no legal right to travel abroad.

His first application to leave Thailand was denied, but after national media coverage of him quietly sobbing after the refusal captured the hearts of many Thais, he was granted a temporary passport.