preview

Analysis Of Tay-Sachs Disease

Decent Essays
Tay-Sachs disease is an inherited birth defect which first becomes noticeable at about four to six months of age when an otherwise healthy baby gradually ceases to smile, crawl, turn over, or reach out, and ultimately becomes blind and paralyzed. Death occurs at about the age of five years. Tay-Sachs disease is among a number of genetic disorders that result from the body's inability to produce lipid-degrading enzymes. Lacking these enzymes, lipids accumulate in the cells, resulting in kidney failure, enlargement of the liver and spleen, mental retardation, blindness, skeletal deformities, and, eventually, the shut-down of the entire nervous system.
Tay-Sachs disease is caused by a defective gene on chromosome 15. When both parents carry the
Get Access