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Teratogens are substances that may cause non-heritable birth defects via a toxic effect on an embryo or fetus. [1] Defects include malformations, disruptions, deformations, and dysplasia that may cause stunted growth, delayed mental development, or other congenital disorders that lack structural malformations. [2]
There are well over 6,000 known genetic disorders, [4] and new genetic disorders are constantly being described in medical literature. [5] More than 600 genetic disorders are treatable. [ 6 ] Around 1 in 50 people are affected by a known single-gene disorder, while around 1 in 263 are affected by a chromosomal disorder . [ 7 ]
Trinucleotide repeat disorders also follow a non-Mendelian pattern of inheritance. These diseases are all caused by the expansion of microsatellite tandem repeats consisting of a stretch of three nucleotides. [23] Typically in individuals, the number of repeated units is relatively low.
The following is a list of genetic disorders and if known, type of mutation and for the chromosome involved. Although the parlance "disease-causing gene" is common, it is the occurrence of an abnormality in the parents that causes the impairment to develop within the child. There are over 6,000 known genetic disorders in humans.
An acquired characteristic is a non-heritable change in a function or structure of a living organism caused after birth by disease, injury, accident, deliberate modification, variation, repeated use, disuse, misuse, or other environmental influence. Acquired traits are synonymous with acquired characteristics.
Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic information of their parents.
Modifying a person's non-heritable DNA with the goal of improving one's medical condition is generally accepted and has a plethora of ethical protocols monitoring such procedures. [19] This includes modifications like organ donation, bone marrow transplants, and types of gene therapies, all of which consider cultural and religious values. [19]
These include Huntington's disease, cystic fibrosis or Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Cystic fibrosis, for example, is caused by mutations in a single gene called CFTR and is inherited as a recessive trait. [16] Other diseases are influenced by genetics, but the genes a person gets from their parents only change their risk of getting a disease.