Joginder Nath Genetic health is largely a matter of inheriting the correct number of genes on the correct number of chromosomes. Too much or too little of specific genetic material in the chromosomes can cause diseases.
Cytogenetic research helps link chromosomes to specific traits including diseases.
A survey of admissions to numerous hospitals has shown that one-third of all admissions were for diseases with a genetic component. Such disorders are responsible for an immense amount of suffering, reduced quality of life, shortened life expectancy, compromised working lives, and distress to family members. WVU's interdisciplinary program in Genetics and Developmental Biology has been engaged in studying the chromosomal and molecular mechanisms underlying the presence of genetic disorders in individuals. Areas of special interest are uveal melanoma, a cancer of the eye, and structural and numerical chromosomal abnormalities in sperm of healthy human males. D.C. Similarly, the human sperm study is a collaborative study involving Nath and a WVU graduate student, Eddy Sloter, and Dr. Andy Wyrobek from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory at Livermore, Ca.