Human Gene Testing (Chinese version, 2000-2002)

Summary: Buried in the cells of each newborn is a unique set of genetic instructions. These molecular blueprints not only shape how the child will grow and develop and whether it will have brown eyes or blue, but what sorts of medical problems it might encounter. In some instances the likelihood of developing such disorders as heart disease or cancer can be forecast from a child's genes. How can doctors detect them in the morass of a person's DNA to try to prevent their deadly effects? The following article, adapted from an account by scientists Stuart Orkin and Gary Felsenfeld, explores the trail of research that led scientists to answer those questions and open the door to gene testing, which is promising to transform medicine powerfully. It provides a dramatic example of how science works and how basic research leads to practical results that were virtually unimaginable when the research was done.