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What is Down Syndrome

What is Down syndrome Down syndrome occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21 Typically the nucleus of each cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes This additional chromosome alters the course of development Some of the common physical traits of Down syndrome are Low muscle tone small stature an upward slant to the eyes and a single deep crease across the center of the palm everyone with Down syndrome doesn't have the same characteristics According to the Centers for disease control and prevention around 1 in every 700 babies born in the United States have Down syndrome There are about 6 000 babies with Down syndrome born in the US each year It wasn t until the late nineteenth century that John Langdon Down published an accurate description of a person with Down Syndrome It was his work that earned the Down as the Father of the syndrome In 1959 French physician Jérôme Lejeune identified Down Syndrome as a chromosomal condition Lejeune observed that individuals with Down syndrome had 47 chromosomes present in each cell rather than the usual 46 in each cell Later on it was determined that an extra copy of chromosome 21 results in the characteristics of Down syndrome In 2000 An international team of scientists successfully identified that there were around 329 genes on chromosome 21 Discovering this information lead to huge advances in Down syndrome research Are there different types of Down syndrome Yes there are 



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