Saturday Genetics Quiz #11: Gene = Disease?

This week’s question: If you have the gene, will you get the disease?

Answer:

Not necessarily.

The terminology surrounding genes and their role in causing disease is confusing. Everyone has genes, about 20,000-25,000 of them, but each may have versions that involve small variations in the DNA sequence. An analogy would be t-shirts in different colors or printed designs.

There may be one or more versions of a gene that can cause disease. The ones that cause disease are sometimes called “mutated genes”. And those that are suspected to cause disease are sometimes called “candidate genes”.

For more information, see How do mutations cause genetic disorders? from the Genetic Science Learning Center at The University of Utah.