Genetics Flashcards
What are the stages of the cell cycle?
G1
S phase
G2
M phase
What happens during S phase?
The DNA is replicated
What happens in G1 phase?
Cells increase in size and the cell contents are duplicated
What happens in mitosis?
One diploid parent produces 2 identical diploid daughter cells
What happens in meiosis?
Gametes are produced
One diploid parent produces 4 haploid daughter cells
What are the parts of a chromosome?
Telomere
Centrosome
Short arm (p)
Long arm (q)
What techniques can be used to analyse chromosomes?
FISH
Array CGH
PCR
NGS - next generation sequencing
What does FISH stand for?
Fluorescent in-situ hybridization
What can FISH be used to determine?
Whether there is extra or missing material
What can NGS do?
Sequence the whole genome or all known exons
What does array CGH do?
Analyses the whole genome BUT cannot detect a balanced arrangement - only unbalanced
The patient’s DNA is compared to a reference sample
What is aneuploidy? - Give examples
A whole extra or missing chromosome
Trisomy 21 = downs syndrome
Trisomy 18 = Edward’s syndrome
What does balanced mean?
All the chromosomes are present however they may be rearranged
What is Robertsonian translocation?
Two chromosomes get stuck together
Note: all the genetic material is still present so there is no disease BUT offspring will be affected
What does trisomy 14 cause?
Miscarriage
What is reciprocal translocation?
When segments of material are exchanged between different chromosomes
This means 50% of offspring will have normal chromosomes or a balanced translocation
The other half will be unbalanced
What is a polymorphism?
A variation in the human genome that occurs in >1% of the population
Therefore it doesn’t cause disease in it’s own right but it may predispose you to specific diseases
What does SNP stand for and what effect does it have?
Single nucleotide polymorphism
Most have no effect
What are CNVs?
Copy number variations
They are extra or missing stretches of DNA
What is a mutation?
A gene change that causes a disease
What are Mandelian disorders?
They are caused by a change in a single gene and are high penetrance
What is penetrance?
The likelihood of having a disease if you have the mutation
What is non-mandelian inheritance? Give examples
Multi-factorial
Methylation and mosaicism
What is mosaicism?
When different cells have different genetic material
A type of Mandelian inheritance is autosomal dominant, what does this mean, for offspring too?
Only one copy of the gene is needed to cause the disease.
Meaning offspring have a 50% chance of getting the disease if parent is affected - so seen in all generations and independent of gender