Our task today was to research a Mendelian genetic trait and find some interesting information about it. The trait I picked is Cystic Fibrosis.

Cystic Fibrosis is a fatal genetic disease that affects Canadians of all ages and currently, there is no cure. This disease has many awful effects on the human body, mostly in the digestive system and the lungs. For certain people the severity of the disease worsens and then destroys the lungs and their function which then eventually ends the life of many. There are many complications caused by Cystic Fibrosis such as trouble digesting fats and proteins, sinus infections, lung damage and infections, diabetes, and much more.

The cause of this awful disease starts when a child receives two defective recessive copies of the Cystic Fibrosis gene, one coming from each parent. About one in every twenty-five Canadians carry one copy of this gene and they are perfectly normal, healthy, and do not have any of the symptoms related to the disease. However, when two carriers of the CF gene have a child together, there is a 25% chance the child will be born with the disease as well. There is a 50% chance the child will be a carrier, as well as a 25% chance the child will not carry the gene at all, leaving them free of the disease. This shows that the percentage of people that get the dominant gene rather than the recessive gene is 75% – 25% because even if you carry the recessive gene, you need two faulty copies to have the disease.

Citations

“What Is Cystic Fibrosis?” Cystic Fibrosis Canada, Cystic Fibrosis Canada, www.cysticfibrosis.ca/about-cf/what-is-cystic-fibrosis.