Mutation Story

Proteus syndrome

Part 1

Hello there, I am but one of many tiny genes inside a 9-year-old boy named Joseph. Joseph looked normal when he was a baby. But his life soon changed when he suddenly experiences an overgrowth on one of his fingers. This is caused by a gene mutation called Proteus syndrome. Joseph looked normal when he was a baby because this syndrome does not show any signs during its early life. The mutation is caused by a gene alteration which changes Joseph’s genetic code that is present in some of the body’s cells but not others. Because of the gene alteration, Joseph’s altered gene creates abnormal protein that is not supposedly made for the cell. Nobody really knows what caused the mutation because of its rarity, but scientists hypothesized that the cause of the syndrome is genetics because genetics are what causes the imbalance of the body to be able to really control which side grows as well as what needs to grow and when to stop. The syndrome affected Joseph’s body by having certain organs or tissues grow out of proportion to the rest of the body. The overgrowth is usually asymmetric, meaning that his left and right side of his body are affected differently. Proteus syndrome had a huge effect on Joseph’s life. There were many things that he could not do because of the syndrome, such as writing properly, participating in certain activities, and eating food properly.

Part 2

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

– There is a wide variety of questions that I have thought of such as: What happened to the host? Was it contagious? Is it a common disease? What causes it? These questions were very helpful as I do my research

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

– I used a familiar digital tool called Google to lead me to various sites to help me complete this project

3: What was the process you used to investigate the topic?

– I used the questions that I have thought of, and searched it up on google to see what comes up

– I visited many sites to further research on the negative mutation that I picked

4: How did you verify and cite the information you found?

– I used a site called “Son of Citation Machine” to give credit to those who provided me with the information I need for this project

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

– It was challenging considering how much I have to dig around the internet for information on my project

– In my point of view, there were only a few aspects as to which I could improve on. Such aspects include more information, and a more detailed story.

Sources

<http://www.proteus-syndrome.org/proteus-syndrome/faqs/>.

<https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/proteus-syndrome>.

<http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/948174-overview>.

<http://www.proteussyndrome.net/>.

<http://www.brighthub.com/science/genetics/articles/53313.aspx>.

<http://www.citationmachine.net/>.