Title: Difference Between Genetic and Hereditary Diseases | Definition, Types, Examples
Headings: Difference Between Genetic and Hereditary Diseases
Difference Between Genetic and Hereditary Diseases
Main Difference – Genetic vs Hereditary Diseases
What is a Genetic Disease
Single Gene Inheritance
Multifactorial Inheritance
Chromosome Abnormalities
Mitochondrial Inheritance
What is a Hereditary Disease
Difference Between Genetic and Hereditary Diseases
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Content: Chromosome Abnormalities
Caused by abnormalities in chromosome number or structure. E.g. Down syndrome (chromosome 21), Turner syndrome (45, X), Klinefelter syndrome (47, XXY), Cat cry syndrome (46, XX or XY, 5p-). Mitochondrial Inheritance
Caused by mutations in the non-chromosomal DNA of mitochondria. E.g. Leber’s hereditary optic atrophy, Lactic Acidosis
Genetics diseases do not necessarily pass from one generation to another unless there is a hereditary transmittable potential in it. Autosomal Dominant Pedigree Chart
What is a Hereditary Disease
This is defined as any health condition, caused by a mutation of a gene which can be characteristically transmitted from one generation to another. In fact, conditions present in parents can also be seen in offsprings due to the capacity of feature transmission through defective genes. The most common hereditary diseases include Down syndrome, spherocytosis, Achondroplasia, Hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, muscular dystrophy, Turner syndrome, Albinism, and Galactosemia. One example of how the hemophilia gene is inherited
Difference Between Genetic and Hereditary Diseases
Genes are the materials present in our body which are responsible for transmitting traits from parents to offspring from one generation to another. However, several spontaneous or induced gene mutations can result in defective or faulty genetic material, some of which will be acting as the basis for various types of inherited diseases, characteristically carrying these mutated changes from parents to offsprings. The main difference between these two terms lies in the fact that hereditary diseases have the potential of being carried from one generation to another whereas a genetic disease can either be hereditary or not, but there will always be a mutational change in the genome.