Bart and Jenny, have been arguing about the cause of their baby's aneuploid condition. Bart was 5 years older than Jenny when he and Jenny met as undergraduates, and he was 41 years old when their baby was conceived. Jenny was 36 years old at the time at which she became pregnant. They have heard that the age of the parent can greatly increase the risk of conceiving a child who suffers from an aneuploid condition. Jenny is convinced that Mark is at fault, because he is 41 years old, while she is only 36. Mark insists that the blame resides with Jenny. Help them resolve this issue by providing appropriate scientific facts regarding the accuracy of their opposing arguments.
Hereditary hemochromatosis is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder that causes the body to absorb too much iron from the diet. This excess iron is stored in the body's tissues and organs, particularly the skin, heart, liver, pancreas, and joints. Because humans cannot increase the excretion of iron, excess iron can overload and eventually damage tissues and organs.
A young couple, Bart and Jenny, are expecting a child and are aware there might be a chance that their child could be affected by this disorder. Jenny (the wife) has ichthyosis, but Bart (her husband) is unaffected and completely normal with respect to the allele responsible for this disorder.
Both Bart and Jenny were Biology majors as undergraduates. Knowing a little about the pattern of X-linked recessive inheritance, Bart and Jenny were concerned when ultrasound revealed that they would be having a son. However, genetic testing performed on the baby shortly after birth revealed that their newborn son, Mark, did not have ichthyosis. Explain how this could be the case, assuming that the gene responsible for ichthyosis is fully penetrant.
Bart and Jenny, have been arguing about the cause of their baby's aneuploid condition. Bart was 5 years older than Jenny when he and Jenny met as undergraduates, and he was 41 years old when their baby was conceived. Jenny was 36 years old at the time at which she became pregnant. They have heard that the age of the parent can greatly increase the risk of conceiving a child who suffers from an aneuploid condition. Jenny is convinced that Mark is at fault, because he is 41 years old, while she is only 36. Mark insists that the blame resides with Jenny.
Help them resolve this issue by providing appropriate scientific facts regarding the accuracy of their opposing arguments.
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