Name
Period
____/ 32 Cystic Fibrosis Scenario
You and your spouse are planning to have children. Unfortunately, you both have relatives
who have the genetic disorder Cystic Fibrosis. You wonder whether or not your child will have the
disorder, and would like to avoid such a health challenge. You go to a genetic counselor, and find
that both you and your spouse have the gene. It is important for you to find out as much as
possible about the disorder, so that you can make sure that your child does not have the disorder.
Research questions ANSWER USING COMPLETE SENTENCES REFLECTING THE QUESTION
1. (4) What kind of genetic disorder is CF? Is it a sex-linked or autosomal disorder?
2. (6) Is CF dominant or recessive? What are the symptoms?
3. (6) What are the treatments? What is the prognosis? (look up this word)
4. (4) What genes would your child need to have in order to have the disorder? (I.e. would the
child have the disorder if s/he had only one gene for CF, or would s/he need to have two CF
genes to have the disorder?)
5. (2) On which chromosome is the gene for CF found?
6. (10) What can you do to make sure that your child does not have the disorder? (Hint: what
fertility techniques could be used? Be very specific about what must be done with both egg
and sperm, and with the resulting embryo.)
1. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation http://www.cff.org/AboutCF/
2. Cystic fibrosis: the scoop
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/whataregd/cf/index.html
3. Embryo gene mapping http://www.phgfoundation.org/news/4388/
4. Ethics of embryo selection
http://books.google.com/books?id=X9FMQ3tAY8IC&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&dq=selecting+embryos+
without+the+cystic+fibrosis+gene&source=bl&ots=Iu1O__5lXF&sig=O85km3bRMqK2Eay8IKXbd9Z
THrk&hl=en&ei=4SndSYHfDJHAM8v7gdgN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2
5. Legal position on embryo selection
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/1998611/Legal-experts-back-screening-of-embryos
6. Embryo selection
http://books.google.com/books?id=L5fGm_7ThKEC&pg=PA380&lpg=PA380&dq=selecting+embryos+
without+the+cystic+fibrosis+gene&source=bl&ots=3PkafuZOdG&sig=9xyR6eb4Ql0dhSg8yATmmlCH
NJc&hl=en&ei=4SndSYHfDJHAM8v7gdgN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5