The Troubled Helix

The availability of increasingly sophisticated information on our genetic makeup presents individuals and society as a whole with difficult decisions. Although it is hoped that these advances will ultimately lead the way to the effective treatment and screening of all diseases with a genetic component at present many individuals agonize over the knowledge that they have or will develop an incurable genetic disease. This book explores and surveys these issues from a variety of perspectives: from personal accounts of individuals coping with the threat of genetic disease to those of clinicians and scientists and those concerned with the psychosocial legal and ethical aspects.