Genetic Engineering

        Red, curly hair runs in some families and black, straight hair in others. Some families include many people who live into their late nineties or beyond. Eye and hair color as well as height, longevity, and other family traits are inherited from parents and passed on to children in a cellular material called genes. Some diseases can also be inherited or caused by changes in one's own genes or those of a parent. Inheritance is …

…new definitions of health and illness. The completion of genome mapping will allow a health plan for each person, preventing genetic disease and promoting a better life. Cancer and heart disease will be prevented and cured with gene therapy. Joseph L. Goldstein, a Nobel Prize winner at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, notes that 30 years ago, no one would have predicted monoclonal antibodies, genome mapping or transgenic animals. His prediction? Expect the unexpected!