Tagged With "Genetics"

Ms. Stacy Pike-Langenfeld, cofounder of the Krabbe disease advocacy KrabbeConnect, gave birth to her daughter Makayla in 2001. Makayla “was perfect until she wasn’t”—Krabbe disease visited her at 3.5 months of age and took her away at the age of 2. “There are no words that capture the vileness of infantile Krabbe disease. Absolutely none,” said Ms. Pike-Langenfeld. 20 years after the tragedy, hope has finally emerged for Ms. Pike-Langenfeld: her home state, Minnesota, has started universal...

The topic of gene editing for unborn children to design their traits is a complex and ethically charged issue that has sparked intense debates in the scientific and ethical communities. At its core, this practice involves altering the genetic makeup of embryos to prevent or eliminate the risk of certain diseases, or to enhance desirable traits. However, the question of whether it should be permitted is not a simple one, as it raises significant concerns regarding the potential consequences...

Although milk and dairy products are common components of the human diet, approximately 65% of the world’s population cannot completely digest them due to lactose intolerance (Malik & Panuganti, 2023). Lactose intolerance is a heritable trait that typically emerges in individuals around weaning. Previously, the enzyme lactase is produced in the infant’s small intestinal lining to digest breast milk. Lactase consists of four identical polypeptide subunits encoded by the LCT gene on...

Very interesting! I especially enjoyed reading the section regarding the specific mutations that allow for lactose tolerance. It is exciting to see a relevant application of the buzz around SNPs and epigenetic modifications!!

Here are the Figures 1 and 2 again!