Many children born with ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTC)die within seventy-two hours of birth.Jesse Gelsinger was not diagnosed with OTC until he was two because _____ and therefore his symptoms were milder.

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Jesse Gelsinger's milder symptoms suggest that he was a mosaic, meaning that not all of his cells carried the defective gene. This is possible because OTC follows an X-linked dominant pattern of inheritance, so males can be affected if their mother passes on the defective X chromosome. If Jesse had inherited the defective X chromosome in all of his cells, he likely would have presented with more severe symptoms, possibly leading to an earlier diagnosis. Autosomal recessive inheritance, X-inactivation in males, and parental imprinting are not applicable to the inheritance pattern of OTC.

Many Children Born with Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency (OTC)die Within Seventy-Two