A genetic disorder is a condition caused by abnormalities in
genes or
chromosomes. While some diseases, such as
cancer, are due to genetic abnormalities acquired in a few cells during life, the term "genetic disease" most commonly refers to diseases present in all cells of the body and present since
conception. Some genetic disorders are caused by
chromosomal abnormalities due to errors in
meiosis, the process which produces reproductive cells such as
sperm and
eggs. Examples include
Down syndrome (extra chromosome 21),
Turner Syndrome (45X0) and
Klinefelter's syndrome (a male with 2 X chromosomes). Other genetic changes may occur during the production of germ cells by the parent. One example is the triplet expansion repeat mutations which can cause
fragile X syndrome or
Huntington's disease. Defective genes may also be inherited intact from the parents. In this case, the genetic disorder is known as a hereditary disease. This can often happen unexpectedly when two healthy carriers of a defective
recessive gene reproduce, but can also happen when the defective gene is
dominant.
See more at Wikipedia.org...
A gene change that occurs in a germ cell (an egg or sperm) to become incorporated in every cell in the body. Hereditary mutations (also called germline mutations) play a role in cancer as, for example, the eye tumor retinoblastoma and Wilms' tumor of the kidney.
A gene change in the body's reproductive cells (egg or sperm) that becomes incorporated into the DNA of every cell in the body of offspring; hereditary mutations are passed on from parents to offspring. Also called germline mutation.