All About Genes and Genetics

What do you know about your family tree? Have any of your relatives had health problems that tend to run in families? Which of these problems affected your parents or grandparents? Which ones affect you or your brothers or sisters now? Which problems might you pass on to your children?

Thanks to advances in medical research, doctors now have the tools to understand much about how certain illnesses, or increased risks for certain illnesses, pass from generation to generation. Here are some basics about genetics.

Genes and Chromosomes
Genetic Problems
Abnormal Numbers of Chromosomes
Deletions, Translocations, and Inversions
Sex Chromosomes
Gene Mutations
Oncogenes (Cancer-Causing Genes)
New Discoveries, Better Care