An autosomal dominant condition only requires one copy of a faulty gene for the condition to be present. Often a parent will have the same autosomal dominant condition as their child.

When a parent has an autosomal dominant condition, there is a 50% chance they will have a child affected with the same condition, and a 50% chance the child will receive their healthy copy of the gene and be unaffected. Sometimes autosomal dominant conditions start for the first time in a child, that is, it is not inherited from the parent but that child can pass the condition down to their future children.

Huntington’s disease and Neurofibromatosis are examples of an autosomal dominant conditions.