The Code: Newborn Screening
Newborn babies are routinely tested for phenylketonuria (PKU), a metabolic disorder that can cause retardation if not corrected with diet, and congenital hypothyroidism. Some states require additional tests for cystic fibrosis and hearing screening....
Secret Universe: Journey Inside the Cell
This epic film takes us on a high-tech adventure inside our own cells, revealing an alien world few have ever seen before - and reveals our eternal battle against the threat of invading viruses.
Like something out of science-fiction, the battle of ...
The Code: Living with Genetic Abnormalities: The Merten Family
At 2 and 3 years of age, Scotty and Chris Merten--short, physically weak, and severely retarded--were referred to Dr. Edward McCabe. As he and his associates were to learn, the two brothers had a rare combination of three genetic disorders that also...
The Code: Living with Genetic Abnormalities
When a child with a genetic or other abnormality is born, parents need information as well as support from the medical community. Even the same genetic disease like cystic fibrosis will vary in. its clinical severity. The doctor's main task is to he...
Role of DNA, The
Dean Hamer, Director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute, talks about the role of DNA in human behavior. Dr. Hamer explains that DNA is like "...a blueprint that determines not only our physical bodies, but als...
Harm Avoidance (Part One)
Dean Hamer, Director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute, talks about harm avoidance, which he explains is the opposite of novelty seeking. In the words of Dr. Hamer, people who are harm avoidant see the world,...
Helping Families Cope
Dr. Ed McCabe, Chief of the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA, talks about his role in helping families cope when they learn they are going to have a child with a genetic abnormality of some type. "My main job in those situations," Dr. McCabe expla...
Addictive Personalities
Dean Hamer, Director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute, talks about so-called "addictive personalities." He explains that the term itself is probably a misnomer, because there is no single personality configu...
The Chemistry of Life: Milestones in Genetics
Cells are, in a sense, just tiny bags of chemicals—so what “instructs” them to divide and function? This program shows how biologists addressed the question during the 19th and 20th centuries. Starting with Friedrich Miescher’s discovery of ...
Links Between Addictions
Dean Hamer, Director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute, discusses the fact that, "...many different addictions tend to go together." He explains that, "...the probable reason is that there are certain persona...