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Autosomal dominant inheritance
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Autosomal dominant inheritance is one of the ways a genetic condition passes from parents to children. Every person carries two copies of each gene, one that came from the father and one from the mother. In this pattern, one of those two copies being altered is enough for the person to be affected; the healthy copy sitting beside it offers no protection.
The word autosomal says which chromosome that gene lives on. Chromosomes are the packages that hold DNA, and twenty-two of those pairs, called autosomes, look the same in males and in females. The gene sitting there, rather than on the sex chromosomes, is what keeps the pattern from depending on whether a person is male or female.
Dominant, then, does not mean severe or common. It means that a single copy calls the shots.
In brief
In autosomal dominant inheritance, one altered copy of the gene in each cell is enough for a person to be affected by the disorder.
The pattern makes sense because people typically have two copies of each gene, one inherited from each parent, and here a single one is enough.
Autosomal points to where that gene sits: on one of the twenty-two pairs of chromosomes called autosomes, which look the same in males and females.
Sources (3)
- MedlinePlus GeneticsWhat are the different ways a genetic condition can be inherited?
- MedlinePlus GeneticsHow many chromosomes do people have?
- MedlinePlus GeneticsWhat is a gene?
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated