Types Of Down Syndrome

Down syndrome is a genetic disease where there is an extra chromosome on the 21st chromosome. Now there are three types of Down syndrome Trisomy 21, Mosaic Down syndrome, and Translocation Down syndrome. First we’ll talk about Trisomy 21. According to Mayo Clinic Staff (2011) “More than 90 percent of the time, Down syndrome is caused by trisomy 21. A child with trisomy 21 has three copies of chromosome 21 — instead of the usual two copies — in all of his or her cells.”(Para.3) so from this we can conclude that this is the most common type of Down syndrome. Next there is Mosaic Down syndrome according to the Mayo Clinic Staff (2011) “In this rare form of Down syndrome, children have some cells with an extra copy of chromosome 21. This mosaic of normal and abnormal cells is caused by abnormal cell division after fertilization.” (Para.4) we can conclude from this that this is a rare type of Down syndrome and is a mixture of normal cells and the cells that have more than two chromosomes so it’s like a mosaic because the cells are mixed. Lastly there is Translocation Down syndrome. According to Mayo Clinic Staff (2011) “Down syndrome can also occur when part of chromosome 21 becomes attached (translocated) onto another chromosome, before or at conception. Children with translocation Down syndrome have the usual two copies of chromosome 21, but they also have additional material from chromosome 21 attached to the translocated chromosome. This form of Down syndrome is uncommon.”(Para.5). this paragraph shows that the child has two copies of chromosome 21, but some on one of the copies some extra material sticks on. According to the Mayo Clinic Staff (2011)”Translocation Down syndrome is the only form of the disorder that can be passed fr...

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...rome. To date, there is no reason to believe that a parent could have done anything to cause or prevent the birth of their baby with Down syndrome.”(Para.1). This tells us that so far as we can tell nothing the parent does makes the baby have Down syndrome and there is nothing we can really do to present it. According to the Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation (DSRTF) (2012) “For many years, scientists believed that Down syndrome was too complex to understand, and they believed that there was no way to reverse or reduce the severity of cognitive impairment… Today we can boldly predict that Down syndrome is not too complex to understand and it is not too difficult or too late to treat.”(Para.1). This shows that in the past we thought Down syndrome was too complex to cure, but thanks to modern day technology we may be able to make a cure for Down syndrome.