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Sometimes It Is All in the Genes

By Anne Galbraith, David R. Howard

Sometimes It Is All in the Genes


 

Abstract

Nancy, five months pregnant, agrees to a routine genetic test that indicates she carries the mutation for the fatal disease, cystic fibrosis. She convinces her husband to get tested and discovers that he too is a carrier. Knowing that there is a 25 percent chance their unborn child may have the disease, they must decide what to do. This case introduces students to the scientific and ethical issues surrounding genetic testing for a disease that has no known cure. The case was developed for a health and wellness general education course that is entirely case based.

   

Date Posted

09/24/2002

Overview

Objectives

  • Explain and use relevant terminology:  dominant, recessive, carrier, gene, mutation, disorder, allele.
  • Calculate the probabilities of inheriting recessive traits and passing them on to offspring.
  • Discuss the symptoms of and treatments for cystic fibrosis.
  • Describe amniocentesis as a technique for in utero testing and discuss the ethics of having it done.
  • Discuss the purpose of in utero testing for genetic disorders for which there is no current cure.
  • Discuss clinical trials, gene therapy techniques, and the ethics of “playing God.”

Keywords

Cystic fibrosis; CFTR; gene frequency; genetic disorder; recessive; carrier; mutation; allele; genetic testing; amniocentesis; gene therapy

  

Subject Headings

Biology (General)
Genetics / Heredity
Medicine (General)

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division, General public & informal education

  

FORMAT

PDF

   

TOPICAL AREAS

Ethics

   

LANGUAGE

English

   

TYPE/METHODS

Interrupted

 

 

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