It’s All Greek to Me: Genetics Edition
Author(s)
Abstract
Stephania and Nikolaus Stamos are concerned about their baby daughter. They take her to her pediatrician, who immediately notices that the once bright and active child is small for her age, pale, lethargic, and has a swollen abdomen. Students examine the patient's symptoms and test results, and then construct a pedigree chart and Punnett square to identify and understand the genetic disorder she is suffering from. Originally developed for a molecular biology course taken mostly by junior and senior undergraduate students, the case can be adapted for use in a course in cell biology, physiology, biochemistry, or genetics (see also the related "Physiology Edition").
Objectives
- Understand the importance of iron.
- Learn about the structure and function of hemoglobin.
- Learn about the normal and abnormal morphology of red blood cells.
- Be able to recognize normal versus abnormal CBC (complete blood count) results.
- Learn about the transmission of an inheritable disease based on Punnett square and pedigree analysis.
- Learn about the importance of pedigree construction in genetic counseling.
Keywords
Cooley's anemia; beta-thalassemia; genetic diseases; genetic disorder; hemoglobin; blood; red blood cells; CBC; iron; mRNA processing error; transcription; translation; mutation; pedigree; Punnett square; genetic counselingEducational Level
Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper divisionFormat
PDFType Methods
Discussion, InterruptedLanguage
EnglishSubject Headings
Genetics / Heredity | Cell Biology | Molecular Biology | Biology (General) | Medicine (General) |
Date Posted
2/21/2012Teaching Notes
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