Mutation Story By: Sabrina Sharifzada
Part 1
Hello I’m Rose, I am also known as Cystic Fibrosis and my host’s name is Ashley. So I, Cystic Fibrosis am in Ashley’s body. Ashley has me because both of her parents had a defective gene in them which she inherited. In other words both of your parents would need to have a defective gene in order for their child to have Cystic Fibrosis.
“Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease caused by mutations (changes) in a gene on chromosome 7, one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes that children inherit from their parents. CF occurs because of mutations in the gene that makes a protein called CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator).” when a person has CF they create an abnormal CFTR or no CFTR protein which causes the thicker mucus.
“The defective gene codes for production of a protein that controls the flow of salt and water outside the organs, including the lungs and the pancreas.” which basically means that the defective gene messes up the production of the protein that controls the salt and the water located outside the organs. Which then the amount of salt and water becomes unbalanced. When that happens the mucus that is produced becomes much thicker than it should be and makes it harder for Ashley to breathe and cough the mucus out.
Since Ashley has Cystic Fibrosis (Me), she has a shorter life span than normal people. Ashley also has a higher chance of getting lung infections. Cystic Fibrosis can also create pancreas diseases which then your body wouldn’t be able to digest and receive nutrients that your body really needs access to, due to thick mucus.
There are many symptoms to Cystic Fibrosis but it isn’t always the same for all. It also depends on how severe their condition is. Some of the symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis are salty tasting skin, badly coughing, shortness of breath, and much more. In order to find out if they have Cystic Fibrosis (Me) they usually do sweat tests where they take a sample of your sweat and determine the level of salt (chloride) you have in your body. if someone has a high level that means that they have Cystic Fibrosis.
There isn’t a cure to Cystic Fibrosis but there treatment options such as Airway Clearance Techniques (ACT) where you are in a position where you can loosen mucus as well as using inhaled medication. However there are many more ways in treatment than just these two. You can prevent lung infections by washing your hands a lot, keeping away from people with contagious illnesses but the main idea is to keep yourself clean and away from things that can harm the body.
So now that we know more about Cystic Fibrosis let me talk about Ashley. My host, Ashley got me when she was a baby and now she is eleven years old. Ashley has become very weak and lost a lot of her weight over the years. She isn’t very healthy because her body can’t digest all the nutrients that she needs. She does take a lot of medication because Ashley’s condition is very severe. Over the years she has had many lung infections which took antibiotics and also staying in the hospital for long periods in order to recover. The doctors have said to her that she does have a good chance of living to her forties because of the developed technology.
Part 2- Making of the Mutation Story
- Some of the questions that I searched up to help me were:
- what happened to you as a gene
- What caused your mutation
- What effects did the gene have on your hosts body
- how was your host’s life affected? What was their story?
- what causes Cystic Fibrosis
- Effects on people with Cystic Fibrosis
- what causes Cystic Fibrosis