PART 1:

Hi my name is Turner. I am a genetic mutation of one of the x-chromosomes in my host. Actually I’m more like half the mutation. It’s a long story but the short version is that my host, Brianna, has a missing x-chromosome. It happened during cell division, and then Brianna was just born with only one x-chromosome, me. It makes me sad that I don’t have a friend to be with, but that’s okay because at least I have Brianna. Brianna has a lot of things to put up with because of me.

It was ok for Brianna for a little while, when she was really young. The doctors didn’t notice what had happened to her right away, but she was diagnosed early in her life. Brianna and the doctors both started to notice how she was shorter than others girls; she only stood at about four-foot-seven, and she still does. Her other physical appearances aren’t what people would call “normal” either. She has puffy hands and feet, and a webbed neck which means she has skin folds that run along the sides of her neck down to her shoulders. I feel really bad, I didn’t mean to do this to her. It was completely by chance, a random event that had happened!

Anyways, I wasn’t finished with telling you all the things Brianna has to go through because of me. Besides the external differences she has, my host also has a lot of other things to deal with because of me. She has heart defects, high blood pressure, and kidney problems. The last and probably most important thing that I’ve done to Brianna is that because of me she won’t go through puberty the same as other girls. Her breasts won’t get as big, and there’s a high chance that she will have infertility. The good news is though that I won’t “run in the family”, even if Brianna ends up being fertile.

The good news I can tell you is that the doctors are helping Brianna. She is currently getting growth hormone injections and estrogen replacement therapy. It’s not like I am trying to make her life hard, so this is good new for everyone. These treatments will never be able to get rid of me though. Brianna goes to get these treatments regularly, so I am constantly being weakened by them, even though I am weakened it makes me happy to know that Brianna’s body is beginning to develop more like the other girls.

Brianna has had a pretty good life so far. She is 11 years old, definitely one of the smartest students in her class, and has so many amazing friends. Ever since Brianna started getting the treatments I also have noticed that she has been much happier with the way she looks, even though I didn’t think there was anything wrong with her before. Overall I would say that even though I may be a pain to Brianna she is learning to put up with me. I will try my best not to be a bigger nuisance to her and still get my job done. Other than that I’m expecting Brianna to live a full and happy life.

Picture of someone with Turner Syndrome

PART 2:

• What questions did you need to research in order to create your mutation story?

I researched many questions, such as: What is Turner syndrome? What are the symptoms of Turner syndrome? Are people born with Turner syndrome? What type of mutation is Turner syndrome? How does Turner syndrome affect a person? What causes a Turner syndrome gene mutation? What are the risks of having Turner syndrome? What are the symptoms of Turner syndrome?

• What new or familiar digital tools did you try to use as you worked through this project?

I didn’t really use any new digital tools. I used google (web and images) and YouTube to find all of my information. One thing that was sort of new for me though is using YouTube. I don’t tend to use YouTube a lot when doing research for school projects, even though I am very familiar with it. I was able to find a really good video on Turner syndrome that was easy to follow; here’s the link if you want to check it out: What is Turner Syndrome? Animated Explanation Video

• What was the process you used to investigate the topic?

I started with just looking on Google “what is Turner syndrome?”. From there I was able to get her more information and start to do more specific searches like “what are the symptoms of Turner syndrome?”. Once I had most of the information I went back and read through my notes to see what else I needed to add. Then I researched some more specific questions like “What happens to a gene in Turner syndrome?”, by this point it was difficult for me to find answers to some of my questions so I played around with the wording of them until I got results. Then I looked on YouTube for any additional information I could find about Tuner syndrome. I kept all of my notes together on one page so they were easy for me to find, and ready for me to use when I started writing my story.

• How did you verify and cite the information you found?

For the most part I corroborated using the different sources I found. I made sure that at least two, most of the time three, of the websites I was using had the same information. I also just used common sense; if anything seemed super weird I made sure to check it with other sources as well.

• How did the process of completing this challenge go? What could you have done better?

I thought the process went really well. I felt very organized. I think for next time, to do better, I would like to use more digital tools such as trying to find PDF files or even possibly contacting someone that knows about Turner syndrome.

SOURCES:

http://turners.nichd.nih.gov/genetic.html

http://www.medicinenet.com/turner_syndrome/page2.htm

https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/turner-syndrome#synonyms

http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/turner.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turner_syndrome

Video link (in case you missed it before): https://youtu.be/YQG8o5b4lKg

Website where I found the picture: http://www.newhealthadvisor.com/Turner-Syndrome-Photos.html