Doing A Research Project on Cystic Fibrosis

anonymous

New member
Hello all. I wasn't quite sure where I should put this, so I stuck it here. =) Anyways, in my Honors Biology I class we were each assigned a genetic disease to research, do a paper on, and present to the class. I was assigned Cystic Fibrosis and began researching last night on the disease. The project is due on Thursday, and I thought that it would be a great idea to conduct an interview from someone who has Cystic Fibrosis. So... I guess if anyone would be interested in having an interview via the forums, email, or an instant messenger, please reply to this post and I will check back as soon as I can! =)
 

Mockingbird

New member
Who are you talking to? Me? Of course i have CF, or I wouldn't have answered. And if the original poster had CF he wouldn't be bothering to find an inerview or do research.
 

anonymous

New member
No, I don't have CF, but I was assigned to do a report on it. Mockingbird, would you be interested in conducting an email interview or what?
 

anonymous

New member
Also, if there is no one who would like to conduct an interview, here are some questions I have about CF that I haven't already researched.

What are some physical problems that occur to those with CF?
Is the disease linked to a specific chromosome?
When do symptoms show up, and is it possible to detect it in the womb?
Is a particular population/ethnic group more vulnerable to inheriting CF?
About how long will those with CF live and what are common treatments used?
Are there multiple types of CF?
 

NoDayButToday

New member
Original Poster--

If you want to post your email, there are some people on here who would probably be happy to help, but do not necessarily want to post their email out in the open. Lots of people would be willing to help you research the personal aspect of this disease and how it emotionally affects a person- the sort of things that can't really be read about in a textbook- anything to get CF awareness out there.

As for your other questions, I find the search tool on this forum helpful, especially now that your search criteria does not have to be an exact phrase, it can be a word marked with an asterisk (*) that will scan all topics for any form of that word. Some 'buzz words' that may help you answer your questions-- mutations, amnio, life expectancy, etc. Good luck! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
 

anonymous

New member
I never thought about using the search engine on these forums. haha! But yes, the emotional aspects of the disease would be good to put into the report. For those who want my email, it is toxicwire@msn.com
 

julie

New member
Some answers for you

What are some physical problems that occur to those with CF? Don't have CF so I'll leave this one to someone else.

Is the disease linked to a specific chromosome? Yes, chromosome 7. In order for a person to be born with CF, they have to inherit 2 CF mutations on chromosome 7, one from mom and one from dad.

When do symptoms show up, and is it possible to detect it in the womb? Yes. CF is a VERY complicate disease. Symptoms can present at birth, or they can worsen as one gets older. Often times in the past, childre were mis-diagnosed as having chronic athsma when in actuality, they had CF and the breathing/respiratory problems were CF related.

Is a particular population/ethnic group more vulnerable to inheriting CF? Typically, those of european descent. There are African americans, Asians, and hispanics that I personally know with CF, but they are of "mixed" families.

About how long will those with CF live and what are common treatments used? Average life expectancy is 32.5 years (someone correct me if this has been updated). I do know they keep the acutal numbers on www.cff.org, but I don't feel like jumping around right now..... Although that is the average life expectancy, some die young and there are many on this board who are 40, 50+ years old.

Are there multiple types of CF? Not so much "types" of CF but rather severities of CF. I am sure you are probably wondering, "how does one determine how severe their CF will be". The answer is simple, but doesn't really answer any questions-there is no way to know how sever one's CF will be. Twins who have CF have different severities (of course having the exact same mutations, their CF does affect them differently). Siblings who have CF (and of course therefore have the same mutations) have different problems related to CF. This is something that the scientific field is trying to figure out and study right now. Some thoughts are that 'modifying' genes exist, but that doesn't explain CF affecting identical twins differently. Some experts believe it is environment and treatments, other experts have no clue. It doesn't really answer your question, but it's the only answer that currently exists.
 

anonymous

New member
This is my first major report that I have ever had to do, so I am having some difficulties finding certain information. The one, main thing that I can think of is whether CF is dominant, recessive, or sex-linked. If anyone knows it would be great to know. Thanks. ANd julie, thanks for the answers!
 
C

Cutecurlz

Guest
What do you want or need to know? 37 yr old female with CF. Diagnosed at the age of 3. Ask me anything.
 
C

Cutecurlz

Guest
Me again....my email addy is: jinakicksbutt@hotmail.com You can ask me anything
 

anonymous

New member
cf is not sex-linked. and yes it is recessive. if it were on a punnet square it would be represented by a lowercase letter.

If both parents are carriers of the gene it would look like this:

C c
---- -----
C | CC Cc

c | cC cc

as you can see.....there is a 1/4 chance of the child getting CF if both parents are carriers.
 

julie

New member
I also have a breakdown of the probabilities of a child inheriting CF based on their parents CF status or carrier status. It might read a bit easier....

<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.cysticfibrosismaleinfertility.com/Before_you_begin.html">Probabilities</a>
 

anonymous

New member
Thank you all so much. I couldn't figure it out, haha. And the Punnet Square helped me better and now I can include it in my paper.
 

anonymous

New member
Another post, sorry. Julie, you said prenatal detection is possible. How is it done, because the main thing I have read about for testing for CF is through the sweat test which I do not think can be done inside of the womb.
 
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