Autoinflammatory diseases can be hereditary diseases

Most autoinflammatory diseases are hereditary diseases. This means that one of the parents or both parents can pass the disease on to their child. That's why in certain families autoinflammatory diseases segregate. We will explain the mechanism of inheritance of autoinflammatory diseases on this page.

Features are inherited via genes

All features of our body are encoded in our genes, which consist of  DNA. Each gene contains information on one feature. For instance, there is a gene that determines whether your eyes are brown or blue, one which determines whether your hair will be black or blonde and so on. Besides our looks, genes also define all other functions of our body.

Genes are converted into proteins

Each gene consists of a code. This code is converted into a protein by a process called transcription. Every body function is regulated by proteins.

Autoinflammatory diseases are caused by mutated genes

The hereditary autoinflammatory diseases are caused by ... Read more »