Gender and Genetic Mutations

The study of genetics includes not only the study of normal DNA, but also of the mutations within a DNA. A mutation is a slightly distorted gene. These mutations can have an effect on a person, both physically and mentally. Although genetics may seem to be just about the genes, scientists are beginning to see a connection between gender and genetic mutations.

Meet Henry, a man with dark hair, and Katie, a woman with gapped teeth. The couple has a child and from their physical description, we know that the child may turn out to have dark hair and gapped teeth. These simple examples are what color the fundamentals of genetics, but what if Henry and Katie have twin children. One child is a girl and she has dark hair and gapped teeth. She is normal and has no conditions or problems. The other child is a boy. The boy, like his twin sister, has dark hair and gapped teeth, but, unlike his sister, begins to show signs of autism at the age of three. Neither Henry nor Katie has autism, yet their son does. After some genetic testing, the doctors find that Katie’s great-grandfather did have autism and Katie was a carrier, or she had the gene for autism, but the gene was recessive, or inactive. Why, though, in Katie’s son, was the gene active instead of recessive? Why did it not affect the daughter? This question is one that puzzles everyone. It could have been a coincidence that the son developed autism and the daughter did not. If it was just a coincidence, then why is it that one in every 88 U.S. children will develop some form of autism, but boys develop autism 4 times the rate seen in girls? Is there more to genetic mutations than we think? Could there possibly be a connection between gender and genetic...

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...ry and Katie’s son inherited the autism was because, as a boy, he was much more vulnerable to the disorder. Through much study, many scientists would agree that it was not the boy’s genes, but the male genes inside of him that caused him to react to the autism gene. This has no effect, though, on him leading a normal life. As studies continue to go on, perhaps we will one day find out why males are more vulnerable to many genetic conditions. Through many more years of research, medical trials, and genetic testing, we may finally find out the connection between gender and genetics.

Works Cited

Sanders, Laura. Why Boys Face Higher Autism Risk. 5 March 2014. 24 March 2014 .

The National Autistic Society. Autism: Why do More Boys than Girls Develop it? 14 March 2014 .