INHERITANCE

5.2 Inheritance

Blood groups
ABO

blood group system The Rhesus system Thalassemia

ABO Blood Group System

ABO Blood Groups

The ABO system is controlled by a single gene,I,with three alleles Allele causes production of antigen A on the red blood cells Allele causes production of antigen B on red blood cells Allele causes no production of antigen on red blood cells Allele and are codominant and allele is excessive to both

Each indudviduals inherits two alleles which combine to produce the blood group as shown in Table 1
Genotype Phenotype(Blood Group) A B AB O

The Transmission of these alleles follows Mendels laws For example,a cross between an indidvidual of group AB and one of group O may give rise to indivuduals none of whom possesses either parental blood group

The Rhesus System

Human Karyotypes Sex Determination in Humans Sex-linked inheritance

Individuals with antigen D in their red blood cells are said to be rhesus positive (Rh+) and those without antigen D are rhesus negative (Rh-) The blood does not contain any preformed plasma antibodies associated with the rhesus factor

When an Rh- persons blood is exposed to Rh+ blood through a blood tranfusian,his body produces anti-D in the plasma. A second tranfusion of Rh+ blood into the person will result in heamolysis of the donors red blood cells

Rhesus Type person RhRh+ Rhesus Blood Rh- blood Rh+ or Rh- blood

The rhesus factor causes problems if an Rh-mother has more than one Rh+ baby. During the pregnancy,Rh+ blood cells may pass from the foetus to the mother,perhaps through a leaky placenta or during birth, This cause the mother to produce antibodies which are detrimental to subsequent Rh+ foetuses. The danger can be avoided if the Rh- mother is injected with drugs that supress her production of anti-D.

The Rhesus System

Human Karyotypes

There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. Of that number,22 pairs are identical in both sexes and theyre called autosomes The 23rd pair of human chromosomes are sex chromosomes.they are different in males and females.The sex chromosomes are called X an Y.

Females have two X chromosomes(XX),while males have one X chromosomes and one Y chromosomes(XY) The images of the 46 chromosomes can be cut out and arranged into homologous pairs based on the location of the centromere and size of chromosomes.This orderly arrangement is called karyotype

One of the abnormalities of the autosomes is Downs syndrome Individuals with Downs syndrome have three copies of chromosome number 21 Children with Downs syndrome have a characteristics appearance,slanted eyes and short broad face.They are mentally retarded,susceptible to infections and frequently have congenital heart disease

The Rhesus System

Sex Determination in Humans

Sex Determination in Humans

Sex chromosomes are transmitted in a normal Mendelian manner In humans the female produces gametes which all contain an X chromosome,the male produces two types of gametes:one which contains an X chromosome.the other a Y chromosome

The Rhesus System Sex-linked Inheritance

Sex-linked Inheritance
Sex-linked inheritance is the inheritance genes carried on the sex chromosomes. However,these genes determine body characters and have nothing to do with sex Two well-known sex-linked genes in humans are those causing haemophilia and red-green colour-blindness

Haemophilia

Hameophilia is a disease in which the blood of the affected person has a markedly reduced ability to clot,due to a deficiency of one of the blood clotting factors It is caused by a recessive gene carried on the X chromosome In males, the presence of an allele for haemophilia on the X chromosome will produce the disease,because the Y chromosomes does not carry an allele for normal blood clotting

In females,the presence of alleles for haemophilia on both X chromosomes produces the disease.Thus the occurence of haemophilia among females are very rare Females with one dominant allele and one recessive allele for haemophilia are called Carriers.carriers does not show symptoms of the disease

Colour-Blindness
A red green colour-blind person cannot distinguish the colours that others see as green,yellow,orange,and red.They are seen as the same colour Colour-blindness,like haemophilia,is caused by the recessive allele of a gene which is carried on the X chromosome

Thalassemia
Thalassemia minor Thalassemia major Treatment

Thalassemia is an inherited disorder in which abnormal haemoglobin is produced by a defective gene. Individuals with Thalassemia need blood transfusion at regular intervals This disorder occurs mainly in the Mediterranean,the Middle East,India,Southern China,Thailand and Malaysia

There are two forms of Thalassemia Thalassemia minor Thalassemia major

Thalassemia

Thalassemia minor

Thalassemia minor
Individuals with thalassemia minor are healthy carriers but some of them have slight anemia As such most people with thalassemia minor do not even know that they have the disorder.However their red blood cells are different from normal red blood cells

Thalassemia

Thalassemia Major

Thalassemia Major

Thalassemia major causes serious anemia because of those affected cannot make enough haemoglobin Red blood cells produced by their bone marrow contain little haemoglobin Children affected by the disorder are pale,do not sleep well,do not want to eat and may vomit. These days,with proper treatments,most thalassemia major patients can grow up to be adults

Treatment
People with thalassemia major are currently treated with regular blood transfusions Bone marrow or stem cell transplant is another option