polydactyly

Question 1

what is polydactyly a genetic disorder of

Answer 1

extra fingers or toes

Question 2

what type of allele causes polydactyly

Answer 2

dominant allele

Question 3

because polydactyly is caused by a dominant allele what does this mean

Answer 3

you only need one copy of the dominant allele to have polydactyly

Question 4

why can you not be a carrier of an dominant allele inherited disorder (like polydactyly)

Answer 4

because if you have the dominant allele then you will have the characteristic

Question 5

why are embryo’s screened

Answer 5

in embryo screening embryo’s are tested to see if they have the alleles for inherited disorders

Question 6

what happens the the embryo’s WITHOUT the defective allele

Answer 6

embryo’s without the defective allele are implanted into the woman. These can then develop into healthy offspring

Question 7

problems with embryo screening

Answer 7

• expensive (some think money should be spent somewhere else in the health service)
• a large number of embryos are created but only a small number are implanted. Some healthy embryos are destroyed which some see as unethical
• in the future we may be able to screen embryos to produce offspring with desirable characteristics