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Which one of the following conditions CANNOT lead to trisomy 21?

1) Non-disjunction during meiosis I
2) Non-disjunction during meiosis II
3) Non-disjunction during mitosis
4) Translocation of chromosome 21

User Loose
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

Translocation of chromosome 21 cannot lead to trisomy 21; it instead leads to a specific set of genetic conditions related to the presence of extra chromosome 21 material, but not an extra entire chromosome.

Step-by-step explanation:

The condition that CANNOT lead to trisomy 21 is number 4) Translocation of chromosome 21. Trisomy 21, commonly known as Down syndrome, is most frequently caused by nondisjunction during meiosis which results in a gamete having an extra copy of chromosome 21. Nondisjunction can occur during both meiosis I and meiosis II, and it can also occur during mitosis, although mitotic errors usually lead to mosaicism, where only some cells carry the extra chromosome. However, a chromosome 21 translocation is a different chromosomal abnormality where a piece of chromosome 21 is attached to another chromosome; this does not result in an extra copy of the whole chromosome 21, but it can still lead to Down syndrome if the critical parts of chromosome 21 that cause the syndrome are present in three copies.