Welcome to my first Easier Science blog post! In this post, I will be talking about the Philadelphia chromosome. First off, what is a Philadelphia chromosome, and why should you care about it? The Philadelphia chromosome is a genetic abnormality that could lead to Leukemia. This genetic abnormality is characterized by a shorted chromosome 22 and a mutated chromosome 9. This shorting is caused by chromosomes 22 and 9 exchanging parts.
This discovery of the Philadelphia chromosome is crucial because it was the first documented discovery of a genetic alteration that directly correlated to human cancer, in this case, Leukemia. Additionally, this discovery laid the groundwork for discovering the baseline mechanics of cancer and how the disease originates.
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