Genetic Testing: How Much Do We Really Want to Know?

Journalist Robert Krulwich moderates a discussion about genetic testing with Dr. Francis Collins, who was Director of the National Center for Human Genome Research at the time and the former Director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Nancy Wexler, President of the Hereditary Disease Foundation and the Higgins Professor of Neuropsychology in the Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Wexler led a team of researchers, including Dr. Collins, who discovered the gene that causes Huntington’s Disease, an incurable neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Collins discusses the obligations and complexities that come with working with patients who are receiving genetic counseling, including dealing with the outcomes of their testing. Dr. Wexler, whose own family has a history of Huntington’s disease, discusses the weight that genetic testing holds for those who are diagnosed or have family with incurable diseases. The discussion concludes with audience questions.cussion concludes with audience questions.