Biological and

Environmental Causes of
Developmental
Disabilities
 CONCEPTS AND TERMS
OF HUMAN REPRODUCTION
 HEREDITY
► is the mechanism
for the transmission
of human
characteristics from
one generation to
the next.
► is the passing of
traits from parents
to offspring.
 GENOME
► a complete set of coded instructions for making and
maintaining an organism inherited from both parents.
► it is known as the blueprint or book of human life that
carries all the characteristics of a person yet to be born.
► is the sum of all genetic material in an individual which
provides all information about the organism and directs all
vital processes.
► as defined in biology, a genome is a complete set of deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) within a living cell. The human cell generally contains up to
3 billion base pairs of DNA, which makes the genome.
 CHROMOSOMES
► Is a complete set of the body’s genome that is twisted into
forty-six packets of threadlike microscopic structures contained
in the nucleus of the cell. It comes in twenty-three pairs. Each
pair is composed of one chromosome from the father (Y) and
mother (X).
► Each set has 22 single chromosomes called autosomes that
carry the physical, mental, and personal characteristics. The
23rd pair of chromosomes determines the sex of the organism.
► A normal female will have a pair of XX chromosomes while a
normal male will have a pair of XY pair of sex chromosomes.
DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID (DNA)
► is a long threadlike molecule and genetic substance
which can be found inside the chromosomes. It is a
complex molecule that contains the genome.
► The DNA molecule consists of two strands of twisted
ladder shaped structure called the double helix that
wrap around each other. Each DNA molecule contains
many genes, the basic physical and functional units of
hereditary information.
 GENES
► Genes act as a blueprint for cells to reproduce
themselves and manufacture the proteins that maintain
life.
► According to scientist, there are 80,000 to 140,000
genes that largely determine the every physical
characteristic in the human body.
 GAMETES
► are the human reproductive cells which are created in
the reproductive organs.
► the ovaries of the female produce ovum (ova) or egg
cells while the testicles or testes of the male produce
spermatozoa or sperm cells.
 MEIOSIS
► is a type of cell division
that reduces the
number of
chromosomes in the
parent cell by half and
produces four gamete
cells. This process is
required to produce egg
and sperm cells for
sexual reproduction.
SOME PRINCIPLES
OF GENETIC
DETERMINATION
DOMINANT-RECESSIVE
GENES PRINCIPLE
► The principle that if one gene of a pair is
dominant and the other is recessive, the
dominant gene exerts its effect, overriding
the potential influence of the recessive
gene. A recessive gene exerts its influence
only if both genes in the pair are recessive.
SEX-LINKED GENES PRINCIPLE
► Sex-linked, as related to genetics, refers to
characteristics (or traits) that are influenced
by genes carried on the sex chromosomes.
► Sex-linked diseases are inherited through one of
the sex chromosomes, which are the X and Y
chromosomes. Dominant inheritance occurs when
an abnormal gene from one parent can cause a
disease, even though a matching gene from the
other parent is normal.
POLYGENIC INHERITANCE
PRINCIPLE
► Polygenic inheritance refers to the inheritance of a trait
governed by more than one genes. Generally, three or
more genes govern the inheritance of polygenic traits.
► Polygenic inheritance occurs when one characteristic is
controlled by two or more genes. Often the genes are large
in quantity but small in effect. Examples of human
polygenic inheritance are height, skin color, eye color and
weight. Polygenes exist in other organisms, as well.