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Article: Reducing the risk of hereditary diseases: gene-ius at work.
- Article from:
- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- February 1, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Heredity. It is a powerful force that determines many of your most unique physical traits: your skin and hair color, your sex, and--to a certain extent--your shape. But there's more to genetic inheritance. Heredity can also cause a person to develop cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, Huntington's chorea, certain kinds of muscular dystrophy, and other conditions. Heredity can also increase the risk of developing certain cancers, emphysema, and heart disease, as well as a number of other life-threatening diseases.
But as scientists probe further into the depths of human genetics, they are finding important information that may reduce hereditary disease ...