Locking up sisters ensures daughters get a fair deal

Abstract

[Extract] Aneuploidy – an increase or decrease in the number or composition of one or more chromosomes – is a common cause of birth defects in humans. Some babies with aneuploid cells, such as those suffering from Down’s Syndrome (trisomy 21) or Turner’s Syndrome (XO karyotype), mature into adults with only mild to moderate handicaps. The majority, however, are afflicted by such severe developmental abnormalities in utero that they die before or shortly after birth.