Genetic anticipation

We anticipated that individuals willingness to participate in genetic research would vary according to the confidentiality of the research and results and according to the potential benefit or outcome of the research. We therefore expected the highest percentages of respondents saying that they would be "very likely" to participate in research when the results would be anonymous and when the development of a new treatment was a possible outcome. 

The signs and symptoms of some genetic conditions tend to become more severe and appear at an earlier age as the disorder is passed from one generation to the next. This phenomenon is called anticipation. Anticipation is most often seen with certain genetic disorders of the nervous system, such as Huntington disease, myotonic dystrophy, and fragile X syndrome. 

Anker,3 5 using isotope tracer technique, found in a mixed laboratory strain of rats (Wistar) no significant conversion of pyruvic acid to acetic acid. This was in contrast to the results obtained with the Sprague-Dawley strain of rats in which either such a conversion did take place or else pyruvic acid was utilized directly for acetylation. Exactly what constitutes the enzymic difference between the two strains is not known, but it is clear that a striking and potentially important difference exists. From the genetic standpoint one should not expect precisely the same metabolic results from rats of different strains or even from individual rats within the same strain, but the difference here reported is perhaps more fundamental than one might anticipate. If this difference is real, presumably other differences exist which have not been looked for, and one should be extremely careful about accepting the results from one strain as applicable to another. 

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