Question

Hemophilia is a disease that causes uncontrollable bleeding. If a father has it, all of his daughters will be carriers of the disease, and about half of his sons will have the disease.
Which macromolecule is involved in how hemophilia is passed from parents to their children?

Answer 1

Explanation:

Hemophilia is a disease that is characterized by an abnormal blood clotting process. There are many different proteins that are involved in the clotting process and a single mutation or change in one of them could result in serious effects. Hemophilia is characterized by an abnormal version of one of the many proteins involved in the clotting process, the proteins that are commonly affected are the coagulation factor 8 or 9 (VIII or IX). These abnormal proteins are caused by a mutation in the gene (within the DNA) that codifies for the production of each protein. In other words, a mutation in the part of the DNA, (gene F8) will lead to a dysfunctional coagulation factor VIII and a mutation in the gene F9 will lead to a dysfunctional coagulation factor IX. Importantly, these mutations could be inherited and could cause hemophilia. Therefore, an error in the DNA and subsequently, an error in the protein will cause hemophilia. Finally, it is important to mention that there are other types of hemophilia that are not caused by the above-mentioned mutations, such as acquired hemophilia.