Hereditary Diseases

Diseases that can be inherited from parents to children. Hereditary diseases are transmitted via chromosomes, the carriers of genetic information.

Every human carries two copies of each gene in his chromosomes = alleles. Each allele comes from one parent. Hereditary diseases that occur within families are the result of a mutation in a single gene and follow a predictable inheritance. In other words, the disease already occurred in the ancestors of this family, a phenomenon that can be observed in the family tree. Inheritance can take place in the following ways:

• Autosomal dominant * Autosomal recessive * X-chromosomal dominant * X-chromosomal recessive * Mitochondrial