THE INHERITANCE OF DOMINANT

GENES

.

Bob Dylan wrote some of the most important songs

of the 60’s and is considered “the most

important lyrist of this era

Robert Zimmerman grew up in Minnesota in the 50’.

He changed his name to Bob Dylan

But in 1960 he moved to New York City and began writing and sing

folk songs

He continued to have hit songs into the 70’s and 80’s

Such as - The Times They Are A-Changin’

In 1988 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll

Hall of Fame, for songs such as

“Like a Rolling Stone”

In 1998 his album received

a Grammy for album

of the year

In 2001, Bob Dylan received an Academy Award for his song

“Things Have Changed” from the movie

Wonder Boys.

His music and writing

has influenced generations

of musicians including:

The song “Mr.. Jones” by the Counting Crows draws from the Dylan song

“Ballad of a Thin Man”

But why did Bob Dylan go to New York City?

He went to visit his idol -

Woody Guthrie who was dying in the hospital

Dylan’s first album had “Song for Woody

Woody Guthrie was one of the

“most influential cultural figures”

of the Depression Era.

He wrote over one thousand songs

between 1932 and 1952.

Woody Guthrie sang about repressed people, such as the Okies coming to California during the Depression. He and John Stienbeck’s book “Grapes of Wrath” greatly influenced how farm workers were later treated

Guthrie is remembered for many songs, but

the one most often sung by every camper and scout is ...

Woody Guthrie’s

other legacy to

music is all the other

song writers he

has influenced

such as: Springsteen

Baez

Woody Guthrie was

born in 1912 to Charley and

Nora Guthrie. He had one sister, Clara, who died in a

mysterious house fire.

CHARLEY NORA

WOODY

In 1973 Woody

Guthrie died of

Huntington’s Disease after fifteen years of hospital-

zation.

Huntington’s Disease results from the deterioration of nerves such as

those in the center of the Huntington’s brain on the right

Woody had three children with his last wife. Joady, Nora and Arlo

WOODY

ArloJoady Nora

Woody Guthrie

spent the last fifteen years of his life in

mental institutions

and hospitals.

His children were with him at the time of his death in

1973.

We’ll concentrate on the middle child, Arlo. Arlo also

became a song writer. He’s most famous song was actually made into a movie

Woody- Hh

H h

h

h

Hh

Hh

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Actually, Woody’s married life was much more complex

and by looking at the complete pedigree we can see how a dominant gene,

such as Huntington’s Disease, is inherited.

Both Gwen and Sue inherited the Huntington gene and died form the

affliction.

In 1979 Nancy Wexler began studying a

village in Venezuela where Huntington’s Disease was common

rather than rare. Through her work with

thousands of blood sample, she was able to identify the location of

the gene that causes Huntington’s Disease.

Like Arlo

Guthrie, Nancy Wexler had a parent

who died

from Huntington’s Disease.

                

Through Wexler’s research, the gene

causing Huntington’s Disease was

located at the tip of chromosome 4.

Soon after discovering the location, six universities

working under the direction of Nancy Wexler, identified the sequence of the A’s, G’s, C’s, and T’s. The University of California, Irvine was the

major researcher in identifying the sequence of the Huntington”s Disease

gene.

The mutation that causes Huntington’s Disease is a repeating of the three bases C,A,G in the gene. The more often the repeat of the CAG sequence the more likely it is to contract the

disease and the earlier the disease starts.

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –

Adding multiple copies of the C – A – G codon, changes the amino acid sequence

in the copy.

The Huntington gene has a

section where three bases repeat

over and over,

causing a protein with a section of repeating

amino acids.

The reason Huntington’s Disease symptoms do not appear until late in life is that the

incorrect protein takes time to builds up in the nerve cells, until the cell eventually dies.

The repeating CAG sequence is responsible for other genetic conditions

Soon after the location and

sequence of the gene were identified, a genetic test was

developed to determine if the

Huntington’s mutation is present.

Even though she was instrumental in developing the

genetic test for the Huntington’s gene, Dr. Wexler will not reveal if she has had

the test.

Neither has Arlo Guthrie

We ended with the local University, UCI, where the

sequence of the gene was discovered

Arial view of University of California,

Irvine

Medical Science Building at UCI

From Nancy Wexler, who

identified the location of the gene

on chromosome

From Arlo Guthrie

who inherited

two recessive normal genes.

From Woody Guthrie who died because he was heterozygous for the Huntington gene.

From Bob

Dylan who

went to New

York to visit

Woody in the

hospital.

And back to me and my first date in

the car to see Bob Dylan at

the Hollywood Bowl.

All because All because Huntington’s Disease is inherited as a dominant trait:1) What was Woody Guthrie's genotype for Huntington’s Disease.

2) What is the genotype of Arlo Guthrie.

3) Construct the Punnett square for Nancy Wexler.

4) What is the probability that Nancy Wexler does have Huntington’s Disease?

5) Construct the pedigree for Woody Guthrie. (He had two sisters.)

6) What is the probability that his little sister, who died in a “mysterious” fire, would have had Huntington’s Disease if she had lived?

So we come back to the beginning, Nancy Wexler identified the location of the gene that cause the Huntington’s Disease that Arlo Guthrie did not had but that killed

his dad, Woody Guthrie, who Bob Dylan went to New York to visit where he was

discovered and went on to become one of the most influential song writers of the 20th Century because of the Huntington

Disease gene.