Cystic Fibrosis

             About 1 out of 201 Caucasian people carry at least one of the fatal defective genes that cause cystic fibrosis, CF, or mucoviscidosis (in Europe) although carriers don't show any signs of the disease. Therefore, 10 million people carry the defective gene and don't know it. Consequently, it is one of the most common genetic defect in the United States.
             Cystic fibrosis is a autosomal recessive gene. That means that it may, but doesn't always have to skip generations. In order to have this disease, both parents must be carriers. If one parent has Cystic fibrosis and the other one is not a carrier than there is a 100% chance that their child will be a carrier. If one parent has Cystic fibrosis and the other is a carrier than the child has a 50% chance of having CF and a 50% chance of just being a carrier. If both parents are carriers than their child will have a 25% of having CF, a 50% chance of being a carrier and a 25% chance of not being affected at all. CF is common in both males and females, so there is not a specific sex that it is more common in.
             How does a person know if they have CF? There are many symptoms to this deadly disease including: salty tasting skin, constant coughing, large amounts of mucus, trouble gaining weight, frequent greasy, foul smelling bowel, growths in the nose (nasal polyps) and clubbed or enlarged fingertips and toe tips is another symptom. Now there are many tests that can be done to find put if a person has CF.
             One way which CF can be detected is to observe the symptoms. A person doesn't need to have all the symptoms in order to have cystic fibrosis, but they usually show most of them. Another way are different genetic testing. Doctors can now do genetic testing for CF, but about 10 years ago they couldn't. In 1989, the location where the of the defective gene on chromosome number 7 is was discovered by Francis S. Collins from University of Michigan. Tests can now
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Cystic Fibrosis . (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 06:04, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/62902.html