blue people of kentucky. we’re not talking about... the smurfs clinically depressed people fans of...
TRANSCRIPT
BLUE PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY
We’re not talking about...
• The smurfs• Clinically depressed
people• Fans of B.B. King• Avatar inhabitants
Not Kentucky Fans
WHO ARE THEY?The "Blue People" are descendents of Martin Fugate, who suffered from a recessive gene which limits or stops the production of the enzyme diaphorase.
• The lack of this enzyme gives people a blueish cast to their skin rather than pink.
• Few people still have this gene.
Fugate FamilyFather + 4 children are blue
Luna Fugate and John Stacey
• Lorenzo Dow Fugate and Eleanor Fugate. Lorenzo Dow was also know as "Blue Anze"
Of Lonesome Creek, Kentucky
In Hazard, the County Seat
What makes them blue?
• Methemoglobinemia• Red blood cells (RBC) from blue people are
deficient in NADH diaphorase activity and cannot reduce the oxidized iron in methemoglobin (metHb).
Symptoms
• Blue colored skin• Headaches• Fatigue• Coma• Death
NOT THIS GUY!
• Paul Karason• a bad case of dermatitis, which results in
swollen, reddened and itchy skin. He started self-medicating, using a treatment called colloidal silver
Can you pick out the blue relative?
Blue Lips
Degree of Blueness
• RBC from the parents of blue people (obligate heterozygotes for the blue trait - Bb) do contain some NADH diaphorase activity but not as much as homozygotes (BB) for the normal allele.
Let’s make a Pedigree
• What’s that? • A Family Tree• a chart representing family relationships
in a form resembling a tree. As normally presented these trees "grow" down from the top, from the oldest generations at the top to the newer generations at the bottom.
Pedigree Symbols
More Pedigree Symbols
Blue Pedigree of Fugates
• = male with it
• = female with it
Pedigree of Fugates
•Can you work out the genotypes?
Pedigree with Genotypes
• trait visible
• carrier
Treatment
• The homozygous patient (bb)
• daily ingestion of ascorbic acid to increase non- enzymatic reduction of methemoglobin
• or the use of methylene blue.
You Will Make a Pedigree of Your Own Family
GET INSTRUCTION SHEET
Choose a trait from the lab of Inheriting Human Traits (the one you drew the face on)
Pedigree Animation
• Media Showcase: Pedigree