Title: Genetic Diseases - body, causes, What Is Heredity?
Headings: Genetic Diseases
Genetic Diseases
KEYWORDS
What Is Heredity?
What Causes Genetic Diseases?
How Are Diseases Inherited?
The beginning of modern genetics
Dominant and recessive genes
Autosomal and sex-linked traits
A Genetic Glossary
What Are the Common Inheritance Patterns of Genetic Diseases?
Single-gene autosomal diseases
Single-gene sex-linked diseases
Multiple-gene diseases
Chromosome disorders
Spontaneous (new) genetic mutations
The Past and Future of Genetic Diseases
Gene therapy
Prenatal testing
Inheritance Patterns of Some Genetic Diseases
Genetic testing and counseling
Ethical
Resources
Books
Punnett Squares
Organizations
User Contributions:

Content: The result is a child who has some characteristics from the  mother and some from the father, but who is never identical to either  parent. Because there are two copies, a gene that works normally usually can make  up for one that has a defect. For example, a gene with a defect that  causes a particular disease may be passed through generations of a family  without causing illness. That is because the normal gene in the pair may  work well enough to mask the defect. However, if a child inherits two  genes with the defect, the child will develop the illness. This explains  how a child with the disease can be born to parents without it. What Causes Genetic Diseases? Genetic disorders can be inherited, in which case people are born with  them, even if they are not noticeable at first. Some disorders, however,  are not inherited but develop spontaneously when disease-causing mutations * occur during cell division * . These also are genetic disorders, because they involve changes in the  genes.