Transcript BLUE PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY

BLUE PEOPLE OF
KENTUCKY
We’re not talking about...
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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 stops
the 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 Family
Father + 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
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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
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= male with it
• = female
with it
Pedigree of Fugates
• Can you
work out
the
genotypes?
Pedigree with Genotypes
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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)