What Are We Made Of?

(Figure 1) Football Player

Have you ever imagined how different your life would be if you were unable to participate in football, basketball, marching band, theater, or any activity that you love? Not being able to get a huge adrenoline rush from making that big tackle (Figure 1). You would have so much extra time on your hands, you would not know what to do. Those after school practices that you dreaded would be a thing of the past. Instead, you would go home right after school and only be able to eat and sit on the couch.  This seems like a very mundane schedule, but for individuals that suffer from Huntington's disease (HD), it's only the start of declining life. People who suffer from HD, were at one point very active and involved in many extracurricular activities, but that all changes once their disease began to progress. 

What is Huntington's Disease?

        

(Figure 2) Huntington's Disease Suffer

Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, which means that overtime someone that suffers from this genetically inherited disease will begin to decline mentally at some point in their life (1). To put this into better perspective, the sport that you love to play, you will no longer be able to play it because you would be physically incompetent. So, that spiral that you were once applauded for does not exist anymore. The character you once portrayed in your theater play impeccably, is portrayed completely flawed. Those little kids that were always in awe everytime they saw you, because of your extraordinary talents, do not even notice your presence anymore. This is because you began to suffer from HD and all of it's symptoms. You began to suffer from involuntary movements, which is what will prevent you from participating in the sport or activity you love. Along, with you losing your physical capabilities, you will also become mentally impaired. This means that you will lose the skills that we take for granted, like the ability to memorize, think, concentrate, and so much more (Figure 2). 

Does Genetics Have Its Own Language?

(Figure 3) DNA Sequence 

Now, you may be wondering how do I get this disease. The most intriguing part about learning about HD, is finding out the way someone acquires it. Huntington's disease is a genetically inherited disorder. Our body is genetically made up of four different letters of the alphabet, yes the alphabet. Those letters are A, C, G, T, which stands for Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine. These sets of letters is what make up our appearance, personality, intelligence, athleticism, and so much more. These letters are put together to create a secret code, which your body reads to create you. To have a better understanding of what these codes look like, see figure 3. Everyone has their own unique sequence of these letters, which is why we're different from each other. People that have the same sequence of letters repeated more than 27 times are effected by HD (2). Genetics explains why that person on the football field is much faster, stronger, and larger than you. Your genetic sequence is very similar in many ways, but is drastically different in so many others. 

What the Future Holds

Genetic codes are a very difficult language to comprehend, even our researchers and scientists do not fully understand it yet. It seems that these codes are completely arbitrary, but believe it or not there's a certain pattern that is followed throughout every healthy human. Unfortunately, those who suffer from HD, have a very flawed sequence. We are very far from understanding what these letters mean, but when we do, we will begin to have scientifically created humans to have the personality, appearance, and intelligence we so badly desire. So, next time someone asks you what you are made of, simply respond, "The Alphabet."


References
(1) Huntington’s Disease Society of America. (2016). Huntington’s disease. Retrieved from: http://hdsa.org/what-is-hd/

(2) Kowalski, P., Belcher, D., Keltner, N., & Dowben, J. (2015). Huntington’s disease. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 51(3) Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ccbdaf3f-d270-4ac9-a36a-c132c4379003%40sessionmgr4007&vid=10&hid=4107