Final answer:
Familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) has an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern, meaning that an individual who has one copy of the mutated gene has a high probability of developing the disease. A heterozygous parent has a 50 percent chance of passing the disease to their offspring.
Step-by-step explanation:
The inheritance pattern of Familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a form of genetic prion disease, is generally considered to be autosomal dominant. This implies that if an individual has one copy of the mutated gene from an affected parent, there is a high probability of developing the disease. Familial CJD, as opposed to sporadic or acquired forms, is caused by a specific genetic mutation that can be passed down from parent to child. Thus, every child of a parent with the mutation has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the disease if the parent is heterozygous. This pattern can be visualized using a Punnett square, a common tool used to predict the genotypes of offspring given the genotypes of their parents. Familial CJD accounts for approximately 10-15% of all CJD cases, with the majority being spontaneous or sporadic with no identifiable cause.