10 Essential Facts About the MTHFR Mutation

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase or MTHFR is a gene. Every person carries two copies of this gene, one from each parent. Gene mutations occur when there is a variant in a gene's DNA coding. There are many MTHFR mutations, but the two most common variants are C677T and A1298C. People diagnosed with an MTHFR variant have a mutation in either one or both copies of their MTHFR gene.

1. Prevalence

MTHFR mutations occur in people all around the world. Varients are fairly common, and the chance of having a mutation in the least one MTHFR gene is as high as 50 percent for some ethnicities. Between 10 and 15 percent of Caucasians and more than 25 percent of Latinos have variants in both MTHFR genes.