Did you know that only males can actually express the full effects of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy? This disorder is a sex linked trait that is carried on the X chromosome. Why don’t girls usually get DMD? When a girl inherits a flawed dystrophin gene from one parent, she usually also gets a healthy dystrophin gene from her other parent, giving her enough of the protein to protect her from the disease. Males who inherit the mutation get the disease because they have no second dystrophin gene to make up for the faulty one. Men can't pass on the gene, as if they reproduce they have a healthy X chromosome therefore not passing it on. Women can inherit the disorder on one chromosome and not express it, but may pass the disorder on to her child. Below is a diagram of a typical family with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy running in their genes.