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Less than 30 years ago, cystic fibrosis was not even recognized as a distinct disease. It was regarded as a relative ly rare and puzzling inherited disorder of the pancreas, which for some un known reason caused the lungs to fill with an unusually thick viscid mucus. Today doctors know a lot more about "C.F.", enough, in fact, to give it the unenviable reputation of being one of the most common long-lasting disorders of children, and one of their major kill ers. As a cause of death, reports Dr. Paul A. di Sant'-Agnese of the National Institutes of Health,...