'Am I My Genes?': Fate, Family And Genetic Testing

Advances in genetic testing have improved the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of disease. But having increased information about your genetic makeup can raise some difficult questions and decisions.

Dr. Robert Klitzman wades through some of those challenges in Am I My Genes?: Confronting Fate and Family Secrets in the Age of Genetic Testing. For the book, Klitzman interviewed 64 people whose genetics indicate they might be at risk for Huntington's disease, breast cancer and other illnesses. These individuals faced a number of big choices: the decision to be tested in the first place, whether to reveal the results to family members and doctors, and how to plan for the future.

"People suddenly had to wrestle: Do I tell my 18-year-old son or daughter or my 17-year-old or my 21-year-old child that he or she therefore also has a 50 percent chance of having this mutation? Do I want to have that shadow their lives as they're just getting going on their independent adult lives?" Klitzman tells NPR's John Donvan.

Scientists have isolated thousands of genetic markers that indicate clear...