Everything You Should Know About “Animals With Down’s Syndrome”
Down’s Syndrome is a genetic disorder that happens when there are three copies of chromosome 21. Now, the case of three chromosome 21 ( trisomy 21) is in humans what of in animals?. Do animals have Down’s Syndrome? Well, it is complicated as we cannot say the same for animals.
Animals can have Down’s Syndrome like diseases but might not be classified as Down’s Syndrome. Animals born with disabilities or disorders will find it difficult to blend in with others, they won’t be productive and energetic as their mates.
Animals That Can Have Down’s Syndrome
The question we should be asking really, is can Animals have down’s syndrome? The following paragraphs should have the answer to that, remember these words are not facts but studies that have been gathered by our team.
Animals have different numbers of chromosome pairs, Humans have 23 pairs, cats have 19 pairs, dogs have 39 pairs and so on. We say a person has Down’s Syndrome when they are affected by a genetic mutation that gives them three copies of chromosome 21. The genetic makeup of non-human animals is too different from that of humans to conclude that the duplication of the same chromosome would have identical effects to the ones observed in humans. Furthermore, many animals don’t even have chromosome 21; cats, for example, have only 19 pairs of chromosomes.
Animals can have conditions and diseases that might look like down’s syndrome but not generally classified as down’s syndrome. Autosomal trisomy is a condition that’s very similar to down’s syndrome in humans.
Before we talk more on animals with disorders very similar to Down Syndrome, it is important to go over what down syndrome is. Webster dictionary defined down’s syndrome as a congenital condition characterized especially by developmental delays, usually mild to moderate impairment in cognitive functioning, short stature, upward slanting eyes, a flattened nasal bridge, broad hands with short fingers, decreased muscle tone, and by trisomy of the human chromosome numbered 21 — called also trisomy 21.
Being honest, animals won’t have all conditions as Webster dictionary defined it. Researchers from Japan’s Kyoto University have documented just the second case in chimpanzees of a genetic disorder similar to Down syndrome in humans. The chimp, a captive-born 24-year-old female named Kanako, has a third copy of chromosome 22, in a condition called trisomy 22. What are we trying to impose in essence? Animals can have conditions that can be related to or seem as down syndrome but might not be called down’s syndrome. Down’s Syndrome is a genetic disorder in human as we’ve defined over and over again.
Then why search for “animals with down’s syndrome” Well, it’s out of curiosity. Images of animals with down’s syndrome like diseases are over the Internet, but remember these animals don’t have down’s syndrome looking at it’s scientific definition from Webster.
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