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Genetic counseling is a position in the medical field that involves counseling people who are or could be affected by a genetic disorder. Genetic counselors advise patients about genetic testing and the implications of being diagnosed with a condition. Though there have been some recent changes to the nature of the job such as the use of telehealth services and the increase in specialties, genetic counseling has existed in some form for a long time. Before the 1960s In an ancient Jewish text called The Talmud, mothers were advised to not have their sons circumcised if they had two previous sons that died of blood…

Epilepsy, which causes seizures, is one of the most common types of neurological conditions. It can be caused by a combination of both genetic and environmental factors. However, there are instances in which the condition is caused by a single genetic mutation. Epilepsy-causing genetic changes can occur in genes like CDKL5 and FOXG1. Because there are many different causes, the condition has been common throughout history. Its presence in different regions and eras means that depictions of those that suffered from it vary greatly. Ancient Times One of the earlier known references to epilepsy-like symptoms appears in an Ancient Mesopotamian text called The Code Of Hammurabi that is believed to…

Atomic Bombs in the News Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has captured the imaginations of thousands of viewers with over six hundred million dollars of revenue made in the global box office. Depicting the work of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the film powerfully captures the construction of the atomic bombs used to end the second World War. However, what many viewers might not know is that the two atomic bombs, “Little Boy” and “Fat Man,” had profound genetic implications.   Effects of the Bombs Although the immediate consequences of the atomic bombs were devastating, decades later, the effects of radiation continue to affect the…

Who was M.S. Swaminathan? M.S. Swaminathan was an Indian geneticist born August 7th, 1925, who played a contributing role in India’s Green Revolution. As a former student of genetics and plant breeding at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Swaminathan became a reputable cytogeneticist that identified chromosomal structure and alterations of various plants.  India's Green Revolution In the 1960s, India was one of the highest populated countries in the world with the second largest agricultural land in the world. That said, at this time, food production was so bad that India was on the precipice of major famine and hosted around…

What is the Human Genome Project? In 1984, the US Department of Energy and other significant governmental and environmental agencies convened to discuss the feasibility of generating the first sequence of the human genome. Nearly twenty years later, in 2003, biomedical researchers across the world completed this project and sequenced over 90% of the human genome. As one of the most collaborative and ambitious scientific projects in history, the Human Genome Project set a precedent for biomedical research going into the 21st century.  How was the Human Genome Project completed? The mission of sequencing the entire human genome was highly…