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Diabetes

Can diabetes skip a generation

12/14/2009

Question:

Im researching diabetes for a science article i have to right, i was wondering if it was able to skip a gereration

Answer:

The important lesson in this is learning what are the mechanisms by which any disease or trait can "skip a generation" - if you learn that, then you can apply the research skills you've learned to many other questions and problems.  The hint I will give you is that some diseases and traits are determined by genetic inheritance alone and some by an interaction between genes and environment (for example, inheriting a predisposition to a disease which then depends on whether the individual lives in a certain way or is exposed to certain things in the environment).  The different forms of diabetes fit into the latter category.  Now you need to look up the basics of genetic inheritance and I think you can figure this out for yourself!

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Response by:

Robert M Cohen, MD Robert M Cohen, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine
College of Medicine
University of Cincinnati