Genton's disease - Covarian ailment. He is present in the human genome, then you mean a disease predetermined. However, genton disease is manifested in adulthood. And literally ruins the life of both the patient himself and his loved ones, perhaps until recently and did not guessed «inheritance».
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No matter how sad it is to recognize, but there are no perfect people. None of us unfortunately can not «boast» The lack of unpleasant mutations in its genome - the hereditary cargo received from many hundreds of generations of ancestors, the lie. Only now mutations are different: one (like those responsible for the development of hemophilia or fibrosis) roughly, without unnecessary «Ceremonies» deprive a person the possibility of full-fledged life from birth, others - only «promise» ever «pour out» In early atherosclerosis, allergic diseases or malignant tumors.
Moreover «Promise» maybe «do not hold down» - If the lifestyle of a carrier person will not give for this reason. But there are mutations with a fundamentally different effect: they definitely declare themselves, but they choose the most inappropriate moment - like Pushkin Silvio from «Shot». It is difficult to find in nature anything more cruel and unfair than fatal hereditary disease with a delayed manifesto.
In 1872, the American doctor George Hottington first described in detail the symptoms of severe illness, characterized by family character. All patients (both men and women) were, in general, healthy people before… Mature age. In the period between the 30 and 50 years, they began the progressive and irreversible pathology of the nervous system - weakly up to the full loss of self-service skills and increased discoordinated motor activity - convulsive contraction of the muscles of the face, limbs. The gait resembled such with strong intoxication, and sharp uncontrollable movements of the hands and feet of patients (t.N. Hyhetic hypercines) received a name in medicine «Dance of St. Vitta».
The disease was called Hantington's chorees - and already at the beginning of the twentieth century medical science it was clear that such had a hereditary nature: the chances of showing or not to show the same symptoms in adulthood for the patient's children are 50x50.
Huntington's chorea, unfortunately, is not as rare, as it would like to, - only in the United States, more than 30,000 people suffer today, and about 150,000 are in the risk group.
The tragedy of Genthaton's disease is not only that it treacherously breaks human life in the most fruitful period of her period, but also that the descendants of the patient are forced to live with a constant thought that, perhaps, the same fate will fall in time and their. As well as their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren… And perhaps - and no. Judgment can only time. Needless to say what is «divination» completely does not contribute to the serenity of the existence and construction of long-term life plans. The situation is aggravated by the fact that this disease is incurable to this day.
It so happened that in the 80s, Korea Huntington got into the field of view of molecular genetics. A significant role in this was played by the fact that the Researchers had samples of DNA members of very large families in which Kharya Genthoton was transferred throughout many generations. For example, in one family from Iowa 22 of 41 members suffered from this disease. And the Venezuelan family, living on the coast of Lake Maracaibo, included 250 (!) patients with chorees and 727 people in a group of 50% risk. All of them were the descendants of one Portuguese sailor - a carrier of a mutation, - settled in these edges in 1800. Such a large amount of biological material made it possible to genetic mapping (definition of location) gene responsible for Hornington's chore. What was successfully implemented in May 1983.
At the disposal of medicine fell a unique opportunity - the accurate diagnosis of Khalei Genretton ceased to need clinical signs, and accordingly - and in the age of individuals. An analysis of the DNA of the young man or a girl, a one-year-old baby or even a 10-week embryo allowed to say with confidence: this person will suffer the above-mentioned chorea, and this one - no.
Presymptomatic diagnostics - so began to call it - it turned out to be a difficult problem for bioethics. Is it necessary to know the child that at his disposal is not all life, but only 35-40-50 years? Do you need to know exactly about your genetic fatumen adult son or daughter sick choree gentonon? Or it is better to stay in anxious ignorance - because the latter gives at least some hope, while the passage of molecular genetic test will deploy all points over «I». Each person reacts to the news of such dramatic saturation in different ways - it's easier to live «Under the lamoclovy sword». The results of preimptomatic testing have repeatedly served as a reason for suicidal attempts by the surveyed.
Another question: should they know about the exact genetic status of people from the risk group of their wife or husband? And, finally, an even more difficult situation: if a person from a risk group who does not want to undergo a survey is plans to configure - is it necessary to examine the embryo? And if necessary - then who should know about the results of this survey? After all, if the embryo is a carrier of fatal mutation, then his birth can be prevented. But it will automatically clear up the status of his parent - but it is, perhaps, not wanting to know about this status. Another aspect of the problem of information about the genetic status of a person from the risk group - whether it is necessary to provide such insurance companies, work and lenduses? In general, once again, science outlined time - the answers to all these questions are not easy to find in religious exercises and universal systems of morals that exist today.
