FANCD2 and Friedreich ataxia: FANC-D2, which is mutated in a small subset of patients with the rare cancer predisposition and chromosomal instability syndrome Fanconi anaemia (FA), is likely implicated in HR via its protein interaction with BRCA2 (i.e., FANC-D1) (Howlett et al, 2002) and confers cellular radiation resistance – in contrast to most of the other genes in the FA pathway.