Human Heredity: Principles and Issues (MindTap Course List)
Human Heredity: Principles and Issues (MindTap Course List)
11th Edition
ISBN: 9781305251052
Author: Michael Cummings
Publisher: Cengage Learning
bartleby

Concept explainers

bartleby

Videos

Textbook Question
Book Icon
Chapter 4, Problem 2CS

Pedigree analysis is a fundamental tool for investigating whether or not a trait is following a Mendelian pattern of inheritance. It can also be used to help identify individuals within a family who may be at risk for the trait.

Adam and Sarah, a young couple of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, went to a genetic counselor because they were planning a family and wanted to know what their chances were for having a child with a genetic condition. The genetic counselor took a detailed family history from both of them and discovered several traits in their respective families.

Sarah’s maternal family history is suggestive of an autosomal dominant pattern of cancer predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer because of the young ages at which her mother and grandmother were diagnosed with their cancers. If a mutant allele that predisposed to breast and ovarian cancer was inherited in Sarah’s family, she, her sister, and any of her own future children could be at risk for inheriting this mutation. The counselor told her that genetic testing is available that may help determine if this mutant allele is present in her family members.

Adam’s paternal family history has a very strong pattern of early onset heart disease. An autosomal dominant condition known as familial hypercholesterolemia may be responsible for the large number of deaths from heart disease. As with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, genetic testing is available to see if Adam carries the mutant allele. Testing will give the couple more information about the chances that their children could inherit this mutation. Adam had a first cousin who died from Tay-Sachs disease (TSD), a fatal autosomal recessive condition most commonly found in people of Eastern European Jewish descent. Because TSD is a recessively inherited disorder, both of his cousin’s parents must have been heterozygous carriers of the mutant allele. If that is the case, Adam’s father could be a carrier as well. If Adam’s father carries the mutant TSD allele, it is possible that Adam inherited this mutation. Because Sarah is also of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, she could also be a carrier of the gene, even though no one in her family has been affected with TSD. If Adam and Sarah are both carriers, each of their children would have a 25% chance of being afflicted with TSD.

A simple blood test performed on both Sarah and Adam could determine whether they are carriers of this mutation.

Would you want to know the results of the cancer, heart disease, and TSD tests if you were Sarah and Adam? Is it their responsibility as potential parents to gather this type of information before they decide to have a child?

Blurred answer
Students have asked these similar questions
A couple enters your genetic counseling clinic for some family planning advice. The woman’s father was color blind, but her own vision is normal. The man has no family history of color blindness. Neither the man nor woman have any known history of hemophilia, but their first child (a boy) has hemophilia. They ask you to calculate the chance that their nextchild will be affected by one or both conditions. You remember from your genetics training that these are both X-linked recessive conditions and that they are closely linked: in fact, their genetic loci are separated by only 10cM! During the interview with this couple, you draw the following pedigree to represent their information. Given what you know, determine for this couple what chance they have of each of the following (in the table).
1) Identify the most important advantage that Mendel's pea plants had for studying the inheritance of traits 2) Using no more than one sentence, please explain why this advantage or characteristic was critical for the success of Mendel's experiments
A certain couple has six children – four boys (ages 2yr, 5yrs, 9yrs and 11yrs old) and two girls (ages 5yrs and 7yrs old). The oldest boy shows the symptoms of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). You are a geneticist and they come to you for advice. What would you tell them about the chances of their other children developing the disease?

Chapter 4 Solutions

Human Heredity: Principles and Issues (MindTap Course List)

Knowledge Booster
Background pattern image
Biology
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, biology and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.
Similar questions
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
Recommended textbooks for you
Text book image
Human Heredity: Principles and Issues (MindTap Co...
Biology
ISBN:9781305251052
Author:Michael Cummings
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Human Biology (MindTap Course List)
Biology
ISBN:9781305112100
Author:Cecie Starr, Beverly McMillan
Publisher:Cengage Learning
An Introduction to the Human Genome | HMX Genetics; Author: Harvard University;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEJp7B6u_dY;License: Standard Youtube License