Molecular Genetics of Apolipoproteins and Coronary Heart Disease
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Excerpt
The principal impact of genetics on medicine has been on two broad classes of genetic disorders: Mendelian traits transmitted by single-gene inheritance (monogenic diseases) and various chromosomal aberrations. The application of concepts and techniques from molecular biology to the monogenic diseases has been spectacular. The various papers in this volume testify to the many exciting conceptual and practical advances in this area. The full implications of genetics for medicine, however, are not exhausted with study of the relatively rare monogenic diseases and chromosomal disorders. Genetic factors play a significant role in many common diseases (Motulsky 1982; Vogel and Motulsky 1986). These disorders include various birth defects (such as congenital heart disease, cleft lip and palate, and neural tube defects), common diseases of middle life (such as coronary heart disease [CHD], diabetes, allergies, and autoimmune diseases), and the common major psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia and manic-depressive disease). In all of these disorders,...
