Genome Chapter 4- Fate

This chapter of Genome focused on chromosome 4. Chromosome 4 is linked to degenerative diseases such as Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome and the notorious Huntington's disease. Both of these diseases are caused by a gene that contains the repetition of the "word" CAG (glutamine). The chapter focuses mainly around Huntington's disease, which is caused by a mutation of the previously mentioned gene. Usually the longer the repetition, the more prone you are to the disease. The Huntington gene was actually located quite recently by a woman named Nancy Wexler. Finding the gene was compared to "looking for a needle in a haystack the size of America" but Wexler pushed herself to locate that needle.

Going back to the disease itself, Huntington's disease is known to strike at earlier ages in people with longer repetitions of glutamine. The disease is extremely destructive, causing a loss of muscle control and, inevitably, control of your mind. Symptoms as usually not apparent until it is too late. The inevitable result: Death. No case of Huntington's has been cured at the moment.
The chapter is titled "Fate" for a very obvious reason. It is constantly repeated that no one can escape their fate even if what will happen is known. The Greek allusion to Tiresias, the blind seer, caught my attention. The allusion spoke the fact that knowing the future (or fate) is truly not a gift since nothing can be done to change it. In this case, a person who has Huntington's disease knows that he/she has the inescapable fate of a slow but premature death, whether it be by their own hand or by the disease itself.