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Huntington 's Disease ( Hd ) Essay

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Huntington’s disease (HD) is a late-onset, usually between 35 and 50 years old, neurodegenerative disorder prevalent in 3-7 per 100,000 people of European ancestry1. The disease, inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern2, is characterized by motor disturbance, intellectual decline, and psychiatric manifestations3. The disease is difficult to detect at an early stage of an individual’s life since its symptoms appear in the third to fifth decade of life. To better understand the disease, investigations were done to identify the gene that is linked with the disease. The researchers in this paper relied on the polymorphic protein markers or enzymes which they excluded in the 20% of the genome. However, the lack of additional markers made it impossible to test the remaining part of the genome.
With the use of recombinant DNA technology, the study aimed to use the restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) as DNA markers to determine linkage of the disease gene in large multigenerational families. Two large families, with Huntington’s disease, were used in the study. Pedigrees of the American and Venezuelan families showing a clear autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance of the disease were established. Family members having the disease were examined by an experienced and knowledgeable neurologist to make sure that these individuals really possessed the said disease. Blood samples from these individuals were collected and analyzed using 20 red blood cell markers to

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