A normal man and normal woman marry. What is the chance that they will produce a male child with Down's syndrome?

Question

Julian Mcgee

Biology

23 December, 06:48

A normal man and normal woman marry. What is the chance that they will produce a male child with Down's syndrome?

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Answers (1)

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Kael Summers · Answer 1

The chance of a normal couple having a child with down syndrome is 1 to 600 births.

Explanation:

Down syndrome is a genetic flaw that occurs when the fetus is being formed.

A human cell considered normal has 46 chromosomes, divided into 23 pairs. For some unknown reason, an error may occur at the beginning of embryonic development and an extra chromosome is created, which binds to par 21. The result is cells with 47 chromosomes. This causes the said syndrome.

It is important to know that this failure happens at random. It is nobody's responsibility. It has not been proven to date that lifestyle, actions during pregnancy, smoking, drinking, medicines, environmental factors or kinship between the couple can influence this occurrence. She is not contagious either. The likelihood of a normal couple having a child with the syndrome is approximately 1 to 600 births.