Genetic condition caused by one mutated gene located on one of the autosomal (‘non-sex’) chromosomes. One of the parents will usually have the disease as it is dominant in this mode of inheritance. Each child of an affected individual has a 50% chance of being affected, regardless of sex or birth order, and homozygotes for autosomal dominant conditions (individuals with two changed genes) have a more severe form of the disease.
See Ataxia, Huntington’s disease (or chorea), Marfan syndrome, Tay-Sachs disease