Quick test (15 minutes)

Sex determination and the occurrence of twins

in human beings
Answer the following question.
1. Compare the characteristics given and complete
the following table.
Characteristic Male Female
Number of chromosome
Gamete formed
Chromosome make up in somatic
cell
Chromosome make-up in gamete
Chec
k
2. what causes identical twins to have the
same genetic make-up?

3. Why is sex of a child determined by the

father?

Chec
k
Elicit studEnts iDea
Do you ever see someone who down’s
syndrome out there?
Today we are going to learn about

3.4 Understanding mutation

Learning outcome
At the end of the lesson, you are able to
1. State what mutation is
2. State the types of mutation
3. List examples of mutation
4. Identify the causes of mutation
5. State the advantages and
disadvantages of mutation
What is mutation?
Mutation is a change in the amount or the
chemical structure of DNA.
Types of mutation?
Chromosome mutation Gene mutations
Changes in Changes in the
arrangement of genes or structure of a gene
number of chromosome
s.
Down’s syndrome (extra Colour blindness
chromosome 21), Albinism
Klinefelter’s syndrome Sickle cell anaemia
(XXY) and Haemophilia
Turner’s syndrome (XO).
Causes of mutations
1. Agents which cause mutation are called
mutagens.
2. Chemical substances
- pesticide, nicotine in cigarrettes, drugs,
nitrous acid and some presevertives,
colouring and artificial sweetener can
cause mutation.
3. Radioactive substances
- Alpha, beta and gamma radiation.
- UV rays and X-rays can cause skin
cells to mutate and this may cause
cancer.
4. Temperature
-which are too high or low can cause
mutation.
 Advantages Disadvantages
•Mutation causes •Some mutation cause
variations in organisms disease like colour
which allow them to blindness and
adapt to the haemophilia cannot be
environment. cured.
•Species that are more •Klinefelter’s syndrome
resistant to diseases, causes infertility.
weather and polluted •Disease like
environment can be haemophilia and sickle
produced. cell anaemia can lead to
death
Exercise
Define the following terms
a) Mutation b) Albinism
State two diseases caused by
a) chromosome mutations
b) gene mutations
Name one advantages and one
disadvantages of mutations.
Homework
Do exercise in science process skills book
on page 30
Learning outcome
At the end of the lesson, you are able to
1. State what mutation is
2. State the types of mutation
3. List examples of mutation
4. Identify the causes of mutation
5. State the advantages and
disadvantages of mutation
Conclusion
Mutation is a change in the genetic
information of an individual.
Mutation can cause genetic disorders in
the descendants such as haemophilia and
albinism.
Down’s syndrome is caused by an extra
chromosome in the body cell, as a result
of mutation.
Back
Down’s syndrome
This heredity disease in general is caused
by the presence of one extra chromosome
at chromosome 21 in somatic cells.
Incomplete separation of chromosome
during meiosis causes the zygote to have
extra chromosome. 47 in total.
Give characteristics of down’s syndrome
patient?????

Back
Klinefelter’s syndrome
Patient has one extra X chromosome, i.e
XXY.
Normally males suffer from this
hereditary disease. They posses some
feminine features and fail to produce
sperms. Therefore they are infertile.
Patient have 47 chromosomes and posses
special features i.e narrow shoulder and
small testes.
Back
Turner’s syndrome
A person who suffer from this heredity
disease lacks one X chromosome.
People with Turner’s syndrome have only
one sex chromosome which is XO.
Only female suffer from this heredity
disease.
They posses the following features;
◦ Infertility
◦ Short stature
◦ Do not experience menstrual cycle
Back
Colour blindness
Sex-linked disease determines by a
recessive gene on the X chromosome

A colour blind person cannot see or

diffrentiate the colours of red and green.

Back
Albinsm
The change in the gene that control skin
colour
The newly produced gens are unable to
produce skin pigment
Can u state the colour of skin and eyes
of albinos patient????

Back
 Sickle cell anaemia
Disease caused by the change in the genes
that produce hemoglobin
Hemoglobin that has undergone mutation
is inefficient in transporting oxygen.

Blood smear (normal) Sickle cell anemia Back

Image Credit: http://lifesci.rutgers.edu/~babiarz/ Image Credit: http://explore.ecb.org/
Haemophilia
Deficiency of a type of protein in the
blood required for blood clotting.

A patient who has a wound will

experience continuous bleeding or will
take a long time for the blood to clot. This
condition can lead to death.

Back
 Quick test (15 minutes)

Answer the following question.

1. Compare the characteristics given and
complete the following table.
Characteristic Male Female
Number of chromosome 46 46
Gamete formed Sperm Ovum
Chromosome make up in somatic 44+XY 44+XX
cell
Chromosome make-up in gamete 22+X and 22+Y 22+X

back
2. what causes identical twins to have the
same genetic make-up?
Identical twins originate from one ovum
and one sperm which are the same.

3. Why is sex of a child determined by the

father?
The sex of a child depends on the type of
X chromosome or Y chromosome in the
sperm which fertilises the ovum.

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