Genetic Diseases

I finished a chemistry project on Saturday. We were able to choose a topic of our choice to research. Each person in the class had a different topic. Mine was Wilson’s disease. It is a genetic disease (autosomal recessive), which cause an accumulation of copper in the body. The excess copper first attacks the liver, then enters the bloodstream and attacks vital organs such as the brain, the liver, the kidneys and the eyes. We did another project in bio about genetic disorders. I had Huntington’s disease, which basically is a progressive degeneration of brain cells. The patient looses his ability to control his movements, his peripheral vision and faces many other symptoms. After having finished my paper, I stopped for a second and asked myself questions. Since all these diseases are genetic, a person is born with the abnormality. So I thought, omitting the scientific explanation of the mutations, why does a specific person get a disease like that? I mean you are born with it and your entire life is then based on and shaped by it. Is God have a role to play in all of this? If so, why would he punish a baby who has done nothing wrong? I do not know. I did not find the answer to all these questions yet.

We sometimes talk about this in biology class and I always find myself without any answers. People with that kind of genetic disorder usually have a 50-50% chance of having the disease (like with Huntington). If you knew you had a chance of having such a disease, would you want to know in order to get treated and live with the fear of the disease getting worse with time or would you prefer to stay in ignorance and live your life without worrying about it (with the risk of dying younger and transmitting the gene to your children)? It all comes back to the same question: is ignorance bliss? It is certainly easy to give an opinion when not actually experiencing a situation like that. But if I were in that position I think I would prefer to not know and live my life as I want and enjoy every second of every minute of every day. We all die after all (does it remind you of somebody?).