Question

After teaching nursing students about autosomal-dominant and autosomal-recessive inherited disorders, the instructor determines that the teaching was successful when the class identifies which of the following as true about autosomal-dominant inherited conditions?
a) The percentage of people with a trait who manifest it is variable.
b) The severity of the manifestations often varies in degrees.
c) Horizontal transmission is more commonly seen in families.
d) Males and females are equally affected by this pattern of inheritance.

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is D.

Explanation:

Autosomal dominant inheritance is a type of inheritance in which a parent has a 50% chance to pass on the mutated allele. An individual only needs one mutated allele to have the disease. Male and female can be equally affected by this pattern, in contrast to X-linked dominant inheritance.

In X-linked dominant inheritance, only one mutated copy is required to have the disease, but because it affects X chromosome, men are more likely to have the disease, because they only have one X chromosome.