The Curse of the Garcias – Androgen Insensitivity Question Sheet
1.What aspect of Imelda’s family history was unusual?
2.Which of Imelda’s chromosomes carries the mutant gene?
3.Did Imelda receive her mutant gene from her mother or her father?
4. Where is the SRY gene located and what does it do? (On which chromosome number )
5.Does Imelda have a mutated SRY gene?
6.What happens if a developing fetus doesn’t receive an SRY gene?
7.Does Imelda produce the male sex hormone, testosterone?
8.Why didn’t the testosterone trigger the development of male characteristics when Imelda was a fetus?
9.What happens to the testosterone that Imelda produces?
10. If you were the doctor in this article, would you have given Imelda all the details?
11. If you were Imelda, would you have wanted all the details?
12. What do you think; Is Imelda a man or a woman?
13. If a technique were available to correct this mutation, would you support its use if …… ?
The developing embryo could be tested for the mutant chromosome and it could be swapped for a normal chromosome.
Eggs could be screened for the mutant gene and discarded. Only eggs containing the normal chromosome allowed to be fertilized.
On the back of the paper, draw a possible lineage/pedigree chart for Imelda’s family with the information provided in the article.