Knowing the presence of genes for heart disease, breast cancer, and a wide variety of other human ailments can allow for the prevention of problems faced in the past. For example being aware one is at risk for high blood pressure, allows you to make more intelligent decisions about your lifestyle. After asking students in my genetics class to diagram a family tree and watching them struggle, I realized the influence our changing society is having on this. Families no longer remain in the same area. Often, family members move so frequently, or so far away, ties are lost.
Many students are from broken homes and never meet their biological relatives.
Some students don't care about these very important people. With the increasing use of genetic information I believe we should emphasize the value of one's genetic history. While students are researching their past, I present information about Nancy Wexler and her work on the Huntington's gene. We examine the Russian royal pedigree of hemophilia. I provide the latest articles concerning our ability to search our own genes and show videos of people who have pursued this.