Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2025

A Caenorhabditis elegans Nutritional-status Based Copper Aversion Assay
Published on: July 26, 2017
A genetic condition that spans both extremes of the nutritional spectrum
1Department of Laboratories, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA.
Abstract:
Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex genetic disorder caused by lack of expression of genes on the paternally inherited chromosome 15q11.2-q13 region, known as the Prader Willi critical region. Nutritional clinical manifestations change with age and are described in four different phases. The phases span both extremes of the nutritional spectrum, beginning with an infant with poor sucking reflexes and failure to thrive then progressing to an adolescent who may have hyperphagia and be at risk for obesity. The phenotype is likely due to hypothalamic dysfunction due to genetic changes in the Prader Willi critical region. Researchers are examining the pathological mechanisms that determine the disease course.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Background and Environment Affect Phenotype
An example of how genetic background affects phenotype can be seen in horses. The Extension gene in horses is responsible for their coat color. A wild-type gene (EE) produces black pigment in the coat, while a mutant gene (ee) produces red pigment. A...
Incomplete Dominance
Lethal Alleles
Lucien Cuénot discovered lethal alleles in 1905 while studying the inheritance of coat color in mice. The agouti gene is responsible for the color of the coat in mice. This gene codes for an agouti-signaling protein, which is responsible for melanin distribution in mammals. The wild-type allele gives rise to gray-brown coat color in mice, while the mutant allele gives rise to yellow coat color. In addition to coat color, the agouti gene is associated with the yellow...
Human Genetics
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...
Overview of Protein Metabolism
Amino acids play various roles in the body once they are absorbed into cells. They are restructured...
Gene-Environment Interactions

