What is Down's syndrome?

In every cell in the homo body there is a nucleus, where genetic material is stored in genes. Genes carry the codes responsible for all of our inherited traits and are grouped forth rod-like structures called chromosomes. Typically, the nucleus of each jail cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, half of which are inherited from each parent. Down syndrome occurs when an individual has a total or fractional extra copy of chromosome 21.

This additional genetic cloth alters the class of development and causes the characteristics associated with Downwardly syndrome. A few of the common physical traits of Down syndrome are low muscle tone, small stature, an upward slant to the eyes, and a single deep crease across the heart of the palm – although each person with Downwards syndrome is a unique private and may possess these characteristics to different degrees, or not at all.

How Common is Down syndrome?

Co-ordinate to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately ane in every 700 babies in the United States is born with Down's syndrome, making Downwardly syndrome the almost mutual chromosomal condition. About 6,000 babies with Downwards syndrome are born in the U.s. each year.

When Was Down Syndrome Discovered?

For centuries, people with Down's syndrome accept been alluded to in art, literature and science. It wasn't until the late nineteenth century, notwithstanding, that John Langdon Down, an English physician, published an accurate clarification of a person with Down syndrome. It was this scholarly work, published in 1866, that earned Down the recognition as the "father" of the syndrome. Although other people had previously recognized the characteristics of the syndrome, it was Downwards who described the condition as a distinct and split up entity.

In recent history, advances in medicine and science take enabled researchers to investigate the characteristics of people with Downward syndrome. In 1959, the French doc Jérôme Lejeune identified Downwardly syndrome every bit a chromosomal status. Instead of the usual 46 chromosomes nowadays in each prison cell, Lejeune observed 47 in the cells of individuals with Downward syndrome. It was later determined that an extra partial or whole copy of chromosome 21 results in the characteristics associated with Down syndrome. In the year 2000, an international team of scientists successfully identified and catalogued each of the approximately 329 genes on chromosome 21. This accomplishment opened the door to dandy advances in Down syndrome research.