What Is the Fundamental Defect That Results in Beta-Thalassemia Major

question 35

Multiple Choice

What is the fundamental defect that results in beta-thalassemia major?

• A) The spleen prematurely destroys the precipitate-carrying cells.
• B) A severe uncoupling of a- and b-chain synthesis occurs.
• C) All four beta-forming genes are defective.
• D) Hemoglobin H (HbH) develops when three genes are defective.

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Definitions:

Pluripotent Stem Cell

A stem cell that has the potential to differentiate into any of the three germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm, or ectoderm, thus capable of giving rise to any cell type of the body.

Somatic Cell Lines

Cultures derived from non-reproductive body cells used in research and medical treatments.

Meiosis

A type of cell division that reduces the chromosome number by half, creating four haploid cells, each genetically distinct from the parent cell and from each other.

Gametes

Gametes are reproductive cells (sperm in males and eggs in females) that fuse during fertilization to form a zygote, initiating the development of a new organism.