genes

Vera Wojtesta was one of 300 babies flagged by New York's newborn screening program as at risk of having life-threatening Krabbe disease. Ben Shutts/Courtesy of the Wojtesta family hide caption

This micrograph shows a single mitochondrion (yellow), one of many little energy factories inside a cell. Keith R. Porter/Science Source hide caption

Artist's representation of DNA. iStockphoto.com hide caption

When researchers looked at the genetic sequences of 179 individuals, they found far more defects in the patterns of As, Ts, Gs, and Cs than they expected. iStockphoto.com hide caption

An image of researchers at Oregon Health & Science University removing the nucleus from the mother's cell before it's inserted into the donor's egg cell. Courtesty of Oregon Health & Science University hide caption

Sara Terry and her son, Christian, in Spring, Texas. After sequencing Christian's genome, doctors were able to diagnose him with a Noonan-like syndrome. Eric Kayne for NPR hide caption

The genetic factors responsible for a cat's stripes might help researchers understand disease resistance in humans. kennymatic via Flickr hide caption

Watson, now 84, says sequencing helped explain his past sensitivity to certain drugs. But he didn't want to know everything his sequenced genome revealed about his health future. Courtesy of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory hide caption