Inheritance of Genetic Disease Flashcards
What is a genetic pedigree?
A visual representation of a multigenerational family, uses a set of internationally recognised symbols and lines
What are Mendelian conditions of inheritance?
Mendelian conditions are inherited in patterns which depend on a number of factors
- the location of the associated gene (autosome, sex chromosome, mitochondrial genome)
- whether one or two altered copies of the gene are needed for the disease
What is the locus?
specific location of a gene on a chromosome
What is an allele?
alternate forms of a gene at the same locus
What is homozygous?
both alleles at a gene locus are the same
What is heterozygous?
the two alleles at a gene locus are different from one another
What is Mendel’s law of segregation?
- Each inherited trait is defined by a gene pair
- Parental genes are randomly separated to the sex cells which contain only one gene of the pair
- Offspring inherit one allele from each parent when sex cells unite in fertilisation
What is Mendel’s law of dominance in a heterozygote?
One trait will hide the presence of another trait for the same characteristic (dominant allele expressed exclusively)
What is the genotype?
A person’s DNA sequence at a particular locus
What is the phenotype?
A person’s clinical features
What is a genetic syndrome?
A group of traits or conditions that tend to occur together and characterise a recognisable disease
What is dominant inheritance?
Having one altered copy of the associated gene is enough to cause the disease phenotype, one altered and one normal copy in affected individuals
What is recessive inheritance?
Both copies of the associated gene must be altered for disease phenotype to manifest, affected individuals have two altered copies, carriers have one normal & one altered
What are autosomes?
- Chromosomes 1- 22
- Conditions due to alterations in genes on autosomes are the same in males and females
Common autosomal dominant conditions (5 conditions)
- Huntington’s disease
- BRCA 1&2
- Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1)
- Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD)
- Marfan syndrome
What can autosomal dominant conditions arise from?
- Be inherited from an affected parent
- Arise de novo (occur for first time without family history)
What are the clues for autosomal dominant inheritance?
- Males and females equally affected
- Affected individuals in every generation or first in family
- Condition inherited from both affected mothers and affected fathers
What can recessive conditions be caused by?
Homozygous pathogenic variants
Compound heterozygous pathogenic variants
What are homozygous pathogenic variants?
- 2 identical pathogenic changes at a locus, more common in consanguineous families