No one is yet sure how much the still developing art of "genetic counseling" will help mankind. Kenneth Swier, 39, is among those who can see some possible benefitsthough not for himself. A tall, rawboned man who yearns to work, Swier has spent eight years in depressing idleness in Colton, S. Dak. (pop. 601). He suffers from spinal cerebellar degeneration, a hereditary nerve disease that will probably kill him before his 45th birthday. But it now appears that a remarkable piece of genetic sleuthing may save many of Swier's relatives from sharing his fate and provide a technique for controlling other...
Medicine: Lethal Legacy
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