How does someone inherit muscular dystrophy?
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is inherited in an X-linked recessive pattern. A disease is considered X-linked if the defective gene that causes the condition is located on the X chromosome. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is usually passed from mother to son through one of the mother’s genes. The mother passes on the defective DMD gene which is located on the X chromosome. Boys inherit an X chromosome from their mother and a Y chromosome from their father. Girls inherit an X chromosome from their mother and an X chromosome from their father. The X-Y or X-X combination is what determines the sex of a child. Males have one Y and one X chromosome; a defective copy of the X chromosome will likely cause muscular dystrophy. Females have two X chromosomes; a defective mutation must be present in both copies of the X gene to cause muscular dystrophy. If a female has one defective gene and one unaffected gene, they usually will not experience symptoms. The unaffected X gene usually will produce enoug
