Abnormal Development - Genetic
Introduction
This page gives a general introduction to information about genetic abnormalities their relationship to age, ethnicity and prenatal testing. In developed countries with increasing maternal age comes the increased risk of age related genetic abnormalities, such as trisomy 21.
In order to detect some genetic abnormalities many countries offer genetic screening programs that include both Maternal serum screening (MSS, for detection of Down's syndrome and neural tube defects), Embryonic and Newborn screening (for phenylketonuria (PKU), hypothyroidism, cystic fibrosis and metabolic disorders).
In terms of maternal/paternal family history, some ethnic backgrounds have been shown to have disease-associated genetic variants, though most common genetic diseases are consistent across ethnic boundaries. For example: Caucasians of northern European ancestry and cystic fibrosis (CTFR gene), Mediterranean, Asian and Far Eastern ancestry with beta-thalassaemia. (More? Genetic Abnormalities - Ethnic)
Note that the development of in vitro fertilization techniques now allows cells from early stage blastocysts to be removed and genetically analysed prior to implantation. This has raised some ethical issues relating to what parameters will be in future used in blastocyst selection.
Some Recent Findings
Genetic Inheritance
- Inheritance Pattern images: Genetic Abnormalities | autosomal dominant | autosomal recessive | X-linked dominant (affected father) | X-Linked dominant (affected mother) | X-Linked recessive (affected father) | X-Linked recessive (carrier mother) | mitochondrial inheritance | Codominant inheritance | Genogram symbols | Genetics
References
Reviews
Articles
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Search Pubmed: genetic developmental abnormality
Terms
- aneuploidy - Term used to describe an abnormal number of chromosomes mainly (90%) due to chromosome malsegregation mechanisms in maternal meiosis I.
- disomy - Genetic term referring to the presence of two chromosomes of a homologous pair in a cell, as in diploid. See chromosomal number genetic disorders uniparental disomy and aneuploidy. Humans have pairs usually formed by one chromosome from each parent.
- uniparental disomy - Genetic term referring to cells containing both copies of a homologous pair of chromosomes from one parent and none from the other parent.
Glossary Links
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Cite this page: Hill, M.A. (2024, April 18) Embryology Abnormal Development - Genetic. Retrieved from https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Abnormal_Development_-_Genetic
- © Dr Mark Hill 2024, UNSW Embryology ISBN: 978 0 7334 2609 4 - UNSW CRICOS Provider Code No. 00098G