A 5-year-old boy was just diagnosed with red green color blindness. His parents are concerned and want clarification regarding how their son got this disorder

A 5-year-old boy was just diagnosed with red–green color blindness. His parents are concerned and want clarification regarding how their son got this disorder because they have a daughter who does not have the disorder.

Answer the following questions his parents have about the new diagnosis.

1.In what manner is red–green color blindness inherited? (e.g., monogenic, multifactorial, autosomal, X linked). Briefly describe monogenic vs multifactorial and autosomal vs. X linked

Red-green color blindness is a type of X-linked recessive genetic inheritance and this gene can be found on the sex chromosomes. Dlugasch and Story (2023) posits that males possess a single X and Y chromosome, while females have two X-chromosomes. In addition, X-linked recessive disorders include red-green color blindness, and affect males and females differently. Males only have one X-chromosome, so if they possess the gene coding for red-green color blindness, they will express it and if they don’t have the gene, they will not express it. Females have 2 X-chromosomes, so even if she carries this undesired gene on one of her X-chromosomes, she is still protected by her second healthy chromosome. This is why females would require a copy of this gene on both x-chromosome to express it; only having one copy categorizes females as carriers and in this case they don’t express it.

To provide more understanding about types of inheritance, monogenic inheritance is the inheritance of a trait determined by one gene. Monogenic inheritance is illustrated by red-green color blindness, due to mutations in a single gene, namely, OPN1LW or OPN1MW, both located on the X-chromosome (Dlugasch & Story, 2023). However, multifactorial inheritance is when the trait is determined by more than one gene and can also be influenced by environmental factors. Certain deleterious genes may affect one's heart or predispose them to diabetes, but in polygenic inheritance it is the presence of multiple genes and environmental factors increasing the chances for this.

Understanding the difference between autosomal and X-linked inheritance is empowering, as it equips us with the knowledge to comprehend our genetic makeup. According to Dlugasch and Story (2023), autosomal inheritances refer to genes present in the other chromosomes, known as autosomes, the 23 gene carrying bodies we receive from our parents. Depending on the genes involved, these traits may be autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive. For example, cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive disorder, meaning that it is inherited from both parents (Dlugasch & Story, 2023). while autosomal inheritance is related to autosomes, X-linked inheritance occurs through the sex chromosomes (our X and Y chromosomes), such as in a condition of red-green color blindness. Since this is based on the sex chromosomes, this affects people more so based on their genetics and gender, while in autosomal inheritance gender doesn’t have such a strong influence. This is the reason why X-linked recessive diseases affect males more often because it is more strongly influenced by ones gender and their subsequent sex chromos