About Carriers

Here is a “visual” example of what a 2 carrier families (Jannelle and Ferdinand) chances of passing on the gene to their children. Cure Tay Sachs – Carrier Statistics

A person can only be affected by Tay-Sachs Disease when two carrier parents pass a Hex-A gene mutation to their child. When two-carrier parents have children, three outcomes are possible.

1. Both parents do not pass the gene mutation to the child – child will be normal.
2. One parent pass the gene mutation to the child but the other does not – child will not suffer from TSD but will be a carrier of the Tay-Sachs gene.
3. Both parents pass the gene mutation to the child. Child will suffer from TSD and depending upon the mutations passed will likely die at a very young age.

As we look at these four possible outcome – there is a 25% chance both parents do not pass the gene mutation to the child; a 50% chance one of the parents passes the gene mutations; and a 25% chance both parents pass the gene mutation. See the chart below:

To view the chart if only one of the parents is a carrier of the Tay-Sachs gene mutation then only two outcomes are possible:
Cure Tay Sachs – Carrier Statistics