Cystic fibrosis

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/cystic-fibrosis

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the gene responsible?Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene
2. What is the inheritance pattern?Autosomal recessive, requiring mutations in both alleles
3. What makes mucus thick in cystic fibrosis?A mutation in the CFTR gene stops a chloride channel from working properly. This means less water moves into mucus, so it becomes thick and sticky.
4. Why do people with cystic fibrosis have salty sweat?The sweat ducts can’t pull chloride back into the body, so the sweat stays salty.

Epithelial Cells: Cells forming the outer layer of organs and surfaces, involved in secretion and absorption.
Mucociliary Clearance: The process by which mucus and trapped particles are moved out of the airways by cilia.
CFTR Modulators: Drugs designed to correct the function of the defective CFTR protein.