How Is Canavan Disease Inherited?
The cells in our body typically contain 46 chromosomes. Each chromosome is a package that holds hundreds of genes. These genes contain the blueprints for our growth and development; they are the instructions that make us who we are. All of our chromosomes (and the genes that are located on these chromosomes) come in pairs. We inherit one chromosome of each pair from our mother and the other chromosome of the pair from our father. When there is a change in a gene (called a mutation) the instructions it contains are no longer correct and the gene cannot carry out its function. Individuals with Canavan disease have two copies of a mutation, one copy inherited from each parent. Neither gene in the pair is working correctly, which causes the symptoms of the disease. click to enlarge A carrier of Canavan disease is a person who has a mutation in one gene of the pair. Carriers are unaffected with the disease because the properly working gene is able to compensate for the gene that contains th
