DOWN SYNDROME

Ever wondered what cool sciencey stuff they are teaching undergraduates at the University of Queensland?

 Every school day I will post my newly learned cool fact... Enjoy 

11/03/2013

BIOLOGY

DOWN SYNDROME

For every child born, around 1 in 650 will be born with Down Syndrome.

This is extremely common for a genetic disorder.

We all know what Down syndrome is; we have all met someone with the condition. Yet it is very rare that it is understood outside of families who have not had to deal with a loved one with the syndrome.

Down syndrome is caused when the copying of a chromosome is done incorrectly.

To understand this we need to understand cell division.

In stage one of cell division known as Prophase. The Nucleus DNA condenses into long strings tightly bounded together.

In stage two known as Prometaphase the nucleus DNA is completely bounded together. The nuclear membrane breaks apart and long strings begin to grow into it and attach to the tightly bound DNA.

In stage three known as metaphase the tightly packed DNA now called chromosomes aligned along an imaginary line in the middle of the nucleus.

In stage four called the Anaphase, the long strings attach to the chromosomes, then pull them apart.

In Telophase the chromosomes form into a ball and a cell wall builds around them. The cell also splits into two and cell division is complete.

If you can understand and remember that, then you should sign up to do a biology degree at your nearest university.

 

Down Syndrome is caused when cells divide incorrectly in the early stages of our development. When we are nothing more than a blob of cells in your mother’s womb, the cells that male up all of you are dividing. So if they make a mistake, it can spread.

Down Syndrome is having too many genes of what is known as gene 21. When the cells are in Anaphase the split is not done evenly and gene 21 becomes too pronounced. 

Usually when a cell does something like this it self-destructs and doesn’t cause any damage. Something about this particular gene however, causes the cell to continue and we get the sydrome to be expressed.

Research continues…