Blog #2 - 3/3
What We Did Today:
-Finished video "One Wrong Letter" (about the kid with Tay-Sachs disease)
-Started Molecular Genetics unit (recieved handout)
Review Questions: page 666 #3, 4, 7
Read Gene Expression (20.2) on pages 667 and 668
-Reviewed DNA activity from Friday
-Discussed DNA Transcription and Translation (recieved handout)
Thoughts and Opinions:
The issue of Tay-Sachs disease is interesting, as with a lot of the genetic disorders that occur when only one base in the DNA is wrong and then the problem is spread from one cell to all cells through meiosis. It's baffling how only one letter amongst trillions and trillions of bases would cause such a problematic effect and the results could be lethal.
Above and Beyond:
I found that the disorders like Tay-Sachs disease are called Single Gene Disorders (the name is pretty self-explanitory). According to this site, these kinds of disorders affect only 1% of the population as a whole and over 10 000 human diseases are caused by single gene defects. As rare as they are, it's amazing and unfortunate that the two families in "One Wrong Letter" both had kids that developed Tay-Sachs disease.
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well done. You're right, single base mutations that cause horrific diseases are hard to fathom.
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