blue people of kentucky. were 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
• The Blue Man Group
Ingesting elemental silver can also turn the skin blue. This man, Paul Karason, rubbed colloidal
silver on his face and skin many years ago to treat a skin condition, which made him slowly turn a
bluish/grey color.
WHO ARE THEY?
The "Blue People" are descendents of Martin Fugate, who suffered from a recessive gene which limits or stopsthe 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.
Researchers
• Trudging up and down the hollows, fending off "the two mean dogs that everyone had in their front yard," the doctor and the nurse would spot someone at the top of a hill who looked blue and take off in wild pursuit. By the time they'd get to the top, the person would be gone.
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
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
A chart of an individual's ancestors used in human genetics to analyze Mendelian inheritance of certain traits, especially of family diseases.
Found on WikiPedia: There is a mistake here. Can you find it?
bb Bb BB
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.
Pedigree Animation
• Media Showcase: Pedigree
You Will Make a Pedigree of Your Own Family
GET INSTRUCTION SHEET
Choose a trait from the lab of Variation of a Human Face (the one you drew the face on)