Evaluating Your Own Risk for Inherited Disease
For this assignment you will think about your individual health and health risks. What genetic diseases or problems might you face during your lifetime? Predisposition to heart disease, breast cancer, diabetes? You may consider your own health risks or those of other individuals such as a family member or friend. Then, in a paper of 750-1,000 words, address the following issues:
What genetic diseases or problems were determined to be potential issues?
Provide an introduction of the disease, outlining the major signs/symptoms of the disorder and the reason why this was selected as a genetic/inherited disease?
Research the mode of inheritance for this disease/trait? Why? If you're not able to find a specific mode of inheritance, provide a hypothesis for the mode of inheritance. Explain your thinking here very thoroughly; this should take up about half of the length of the Assignment.
What other information would help you draw better conclusions about this disease?
What problems did you encounter in gathering information about your family's history or that of the person you interviewed?
If you were to have a child, what could you tell him or her about his/her chances of inheriting the diseases based upon your research about the inheritability of the trait you are researching?