Today, at least 50 genetic tests for hereditary diseases are available. More than 150 mutant genes are making it possible for doctors to look into their patients future. From a single sample of a patient's blood, doctors will be able to spot genetic mutations that signal the approach not only of rare hereditary diseases, but also breast cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, and they have plans on defeating them.

Knowing a patient's genetic predispositions will be essential to preventive medicine. But for many other inherited ailments, a genetic test offers a positive and negative effects to the situation.

A genetic test for the breast cancer gene ( known as BRCA1), which is responsible for many as 1 in 10 of the 180,000 cases diagnosed in the United States each year. Those who are free of mutation will be spared the dread of the unknown. Those who carry the mutation can only hope that self-examination and mammograms catch the tumor early enough. When some

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