Genetics for patients and public: what is genetic disorders?

Genetic disorders are diseases caused in whole or in part by a variation or alteration of genes.

As we unlocks the secret of human genome (all contents of genes), we know that nearly all diseases have a genetic component. Some including cancers are cause by alteration in a gene or a group of genes in the cells of individuals.

Other genetic disorders are hereditary - such as Huntington's disease, Marfan syndromewhere a mutated gene is passed down through a family and each generation of children can inherit the gene that causes the disease.

But most genetic disorders are "multifactorial inheritance disorders," meaning they are caused by a combination of small variations in genes, often in concert with environmental factors.