An introductory guide to the genetics of Huntington’s disease.
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Although records of symptoms have been traced as far back as the Middle Ages, it was not until the late 1800s that physician George Huntington first documented the hereditary nature of the disease that bears his name. It was the late onset and hereditary character that distinguished HD from other diseases with similar symptoms. With so many recent breakthroughs in human genome research, we now know quite a bit about the genetic basis of Huntington’s disease. Having a working familiarity with the basic genetics of HD is key to understanding the inheritance and expression of the disease.
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