What is Pulmonary Hypoplasia with Anasarca (PHA)?
Pulmonary refers to the lungs, and Hypoplasia means incomplete formation; thus Pulmonary Hypoplasia means incomplete formation of the lungs. Anasarca means a general accumulation of serum fluids in various tissues and body cavities; thus anasarca results in swelling and a swollen appearance. In order to be PHA-affected, a calf must inherit a PHA gene from both its sire and dam. Since the PHA gene is recessive, the lethal form of this condition is only expressed when the calf is homozygous for the PHA gene. PHA-affected calves are either aborted or stillborn. Because of the anasarca that is associated with this condition, the PHA-affected calf may also swell tremendously with fluid, making delivery difficult and potentially endangering the life of the cow. 2. What is a gene? What is the difference between a gene and an allele? A gene is a sequence of DNA which provides the basic instructions or code for a certain trait or function. Genes are the basic units of the hereditary information
