Glossary
Consanguineous marriage: Marriage among blood relativesSpontaneous Abortions: Natural end of pregnancy before 20 weeks of gestation
Autosomes: Chromosomes other than the sex chromosomes (22 pairs)
Sex Chromosomes: The X and Y-chromosomes that determine the sex of an organism
Genetic Anomaly: Genetic abnormality
Cystic Fibrosis: Hereditary disease affecting the body that progressively debilitates and leads to an early death
Sickle cell anemia: Hereditary blood disorder resulting in the production of abnormally shaped RBCs
Sickle cell trait: Medically normal condition where a person has one normal gene and carries one copy of the sickle cell anemia gene.
Turner’s syndrome: Chromosomal condition that affects only girls and women
Klinefelter’s syndrome: Chromosomal condition that affects males
Down syndrome: A chromosomal disorder causing mental retardation and several other medical problems
DNA fingerprinting: studying the DNA sequences of an individual which are unique as a fingerprint
Phenylketoneuria: Genetic disorder which results in the body not being able to utilize the amino acid phenylalanine
Congenital hypothyroidism: Genetic condition found in the new borns that results in the abnormal development or function of the thyroid gland
Late- onset diseases: Diseases that show up at a later stage in life
