Essay Birth Defects

Developments in medicine have negatively impacted natural selection by causing an increase in genetic disorders. A genetic disorder can occur for many reasons. Sometimes chromosomes are missing or doubled. In other situations, the genetic code on chromosomes can get altered due to an anomaly when the RNA processes the information. Important information can be deleted, swapped, or completely altered. It is because of these changes in chromosomal DNA that changes in species come about. Genetic disorders are the negative effects of mutations in genes. For example, Sickle-cell anemia is a blood disorder which

personality in Aylmer. Although the other underlying personality is not represented within himself, it is rather portrayed through his assistant Aminadab. Since Aylmer is lacking so much within himself, he is unable to appreciate his wife even

The main two ways are environmental and genetic. Environmental defects are ones that are caused by the infant’s environment either in utero or after the birth. These could range from drug induced to the toxins that are in the environment where the child is born. There are also multiple ways that birth defects can be presented. The most common and accepted ones are structural and functional/developmental birth defects. Structural abnormalities are defects that occur in the structure or body parts of the infant (5). These could include cleft lip, heart defects, spina bifida, or anyone that challenges the normal growth of the infant internally or externally. Functional/developmental defects are associated with any abnormality that alters how a body part or body system works (5). These most commonly lead to intellectual and developmental disorders. The most common developmental defects are nervous system or brain problem, sensory problems, degenerative disorders, and metabolic disorders (5). Both of these types of defect can dramatically alter the child’s life and lead to many surgeries and therapies. If genetic engineering was used to alter the genetic material while these affected infants were in utero they could had been born completely

A birth defect is a physical or mental malformation present at birth. Some birth defects are visible such as leprosy, and some are eternal such as abnormal body function and divergent blood cells. Additionally, some birth deficiencies are genetic, and others transpire when external factors affect a child maturation in the womb. For instance, a child whose mother smoked during pregnancy is vulnerable and likely to have a heart defect at birth.

Syndromes and deformations occur while the child is still in the womb of the mother. Syndromes such as, Edwards Syndrome, Klinefelter's Syndrome, Bloom Syndrome, and Turner Syndrome, research shows that a variety of these deformations occur with complications regarding the chromosomes( shown on karyotype chart). Most of these complications are not hereditary or genetically passed through the parents. All though these syndromes are not hereditary or genetically passed the life expectancy of these unfortunate beings goes no higher than twenty-seven years, some do not even survive childbirth.

It’s a beautiful thing to conceive life’s bundle of joy, and another to conceive a child suffering from genetic disorders. Inheriting altered genes through autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, X-linked dominant and X-linked recessive are potential leads to genetic disorders in offspring (Health Direct Australia, 2014).

usually occurs when there is a deletion in the father’s genes. A deletion is a kind of mutation

“Genes are paired- one copy of each gene pair is inherited from the mother and the other copy from the father.” If a genetic disorder is a shown trait through an individual the way it was inherited is through one of these two genes in the pair is abnormal and contains a extra gene. “Around 6,000 known genetic disorders are caused by inheriting an altered gene.” Down syndrome is one of these diseases with an extra affected chromosome (21). Down Syndrome affects physical growth and gives a person a disability in knowledge and development. It is an incurable disease and a individual must be born with it to occur. Cystic Fibrosis is another gene disorder it affects the lungs and digestive system and slowly decreases the effectiveness of its workings. Muscular dystrophy a disorder that can either start from birth or into late 40s depends on what type of genetic type of disease the person possesses. The disease slowly eats away at muscles and eventually leaving an individual struggling to move and slowly dying. PKU causes brain damage another genetic disorder can be detected from birth. Hereditary Hemochromatosis is apart of these genetic disorders and it is quite common “approximately 1 to 6 people in the United states”. This disease has no shown trait however it causes an iron overload in the body. The symptoms can be bad or not as effecting it is different with every person who has the disease. In all genetic disorders they aren’t common to all start from birth each can start from young to old and it is unknown to if a person has a disease until the symptoms

Birth defects or genetic disorders can be defined as the presence of the deformities or deficiencies in the physical or cerebral formation or function of a child at birth. These disorders range from inconsequential to critically collapsing or life-threatening. A major imperfection of some type happens to be present in just about three percent of all births. Some defects like Down syndrome, Tay-Sachs disease, sickle cell disease, and hemophilia are genetic in origin. On the other hand, some defects like rubella, gonorrhea and syphilis may be caused by infections. Other agents that could cause malformation include drugs or hormones taken by the mother during pregnancy. A defect can also occur in the baby if there is a history of maternal illnesses such as diabetes. The developing fetus can also be affected due to the kind of nutrition mother consumes. If a woman drinks alcohol, uses drugs or smokes, her children are likely to be born defected. In some cases, when a pregnant woman is exposed to toxic chemicals and radiation, the developing fetus is expected to develop poorly. If the male parent is used to of smoking, takes drugs, or is exposed to toxic chemicals, all such things can damage his sperm. This defected sperm may transfer the defect to the embryo in fertilization. Some disorders appear if the mother or father is older. The older age elevates the chances age-related gene mutations. Now the scientific technology has become so advanced

X-linked dominant inheritance is a mode of genetic inheritance by which a dominant gene is carried on the X chromosome. X-linked dominant traits do not necessarily affect males more than females (unlike X-linked recessive traits). The exact pattern of inheritance varies, depending on whether the father or the mother has the trait of interest. All daughters of an affected father will also be affected but none of his sons will be affected (unless the mother is also affected). In addition, the mother of an affected son is also affected (but not necessarily the other way round). Examples of X-linked dominant conditions include Rett syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, and Alport

A person’s DNA or genes play a major role in genetic disposition, but the environment also plays a role. There are several environmental factors that can lead to birth defects. A mother’s uterus is the environment of a fetus; therefore, if there is something that impacts the mother it could have an impact and affect fetal development. These factors can come from the mother’s surroundings are environment. If the mother contracts an infection or disease, any of these can cause abnormal development of the fetus.

The most well known type of the condition is called Monosomy. Monosomy occurs when there is only one x chromosome. In this case, something went completely wrong with a mother’s egg or a father’s sperm. The second most common type of Turner syndrome is called Mosaicism. Mosaicism occurs when there is an error in cell division before birth, thus creating two different copies of x chromosomes. In some cases, there is one complete copy of an x chromosome and one partial copy of an x chromosome. There is a fairly rare case of Turner syndrome where some cells have one x chromosome and a part of a y chromosome. Through research, it has been found that there are no racial or ethnic influences that causes TS. Women and children struck with this type of Turner syndrome develop biologically as a female, but this highers the risk of contracting a cancer called

With the exception of genes on the sex chromosome, a person inherits two copies of gene - one good copy and one faulty copy of gene. Faulty gene is larger than the normal copy of gene which usually found in chromosome no 4. Therefore, the chances of inheriting this kind of disease is 50% if one of the parent of that child has faulty gene.

It appears when the mother has the gene on one of her two chromosomes. The disease is not often found in women, because she has two chromosomes, so when she shows signs of having the disease both of her chromosomes would have had to be affected. So if that woman was to have a child, if that child was a daughter she would have a 50% chance of receiving the gene. Now a mother has a son giving him a 50% chance of getting the disorder causing gene because he just has one chromosome. If he inherits the disease all his daughters will carry the disease but not his sons.

Genetics disorders are formed by a disease which is inherited genetically from parent to offspring. The genetic disorder results from a change in the DNA sequence. A chromosome abnormality is a missing or extra portion of chromosomal DNA. It can be from an atypical number of chromosomes or a structural abnormality in one or more chromosomes (NHGRI, 2014). Numerical disorders which are the highest occurring chromosomal disorder, also known as aneuploidy occurs when an individual as either monosomy (missing chromosome) or tetrasomy (extra chromosome) eg; Trisomy 21 (down syndrome) - Three copies of chromosome 21 rather than two. Structural abnormalities form when the chromosomes structure is altered (G&CA-W). The altering of the genetic structure can take upon many formations eg; inversions - A portion of the chromosome has broken off, turned upside down, and reattached, therefore the genetic material is inverted. Chromosomal instability is also a chromosome abnormality in which upon mitosis of daughter cells, there is a lack or unequal distribution of DNA, the unequal distribution results in aneuploidy