Author Archives: Robert Resta
Why We Love Genetics: A Group Post by The Staff of The DNA Exchange
We suspect that many genetic counselors out there got hooked on genetics by an intriguing bit of information, something that grabbed your attention and made you say “Hey, that’s pretty cool. I want to learn more about this field.” Sure … Continue reading
Blind Spot: Genetic Counselors and Financial Conflict of Interest
Many people don’t know that the human eye has a blind spot in its field of vision. There is a part of the world that we are literally blind to. The problem is, sometimes our blind spots shield us from … Continue reading
Filed under Robert Resta
The Implicit Judeo-Christian Ethic of Pedigree Nomenclature
I am unabashedly the pedigree’s biggest fan.* Although those new-fangled ”-omics” testing technologies may soon surpass the analytic power of the pedigree, I suspect that pedigrees will be a critical part of genetic counseling for … Continue reading
Filed under Robert Resta
Sense, Missense, and Nonsense: A Word Nerd’s Freewheeling Take On The Vocabulary of Genetics
I proudly admit to being a Word Nerd, a hound who sniffs a trail on a random dictionary page for the sheer pleasure of flushing out obscure words. Today’s finds were haček, hachure, and hackbut. So let me combine two … Continue reading
Filed under Robert Resta
The Unusual Suspects: Wedgwood Pottery, The Canals of England, And The Death of God
God is dead…..And we have killed him. – Friedrich Nietzsche Nietzsche’s madman infamously proclaimed the demise of God in his 1882 work The Gay Science. Nietzsche was presumably dramatizing the idea that belief in God and the pervasive influence of … Continue reading
Filed under Robert Resta
Priorities For The Genetic Counseling Profession For The Next Decade
Lately I have been thinking about the future of genetic counseling and where the profession should be heading. What with busy work schedules, institutional budget crises driven by a shaky economy , and the emotional burdens of caring for our … Continue reading
Filed under Robert Resta
“Family History In Times of Siege (1945)” by Robert Resta
A full schedule, impatient with patients, committing the mistake of heading straight to matters of fact But they must tell their stories first Facts only matter in the setting of the heart. § An incendiary March night, standing in a meadow, looking up … Continue reading
Filed under Robert Resta
p + q = Solved, Being the True Story of How the Chromosome Got Its Name
A few weeks ago I discussed different stories we have come to tell about the origins of the convention of using “p” and “q” to identify the chromosomal short and long arms, respectively (L’histoire de p et q: Urban Legends … Continue reading
Filed under Robert Resta
L’histoire de p et q: Urban Myths of Cytogenetics
Karyotypes are sooooo 20th century. Time was when a ripe crop of G-banded chromosomes promised a fruitful harvest of genetic secrets. But nowadays a Giemsa-stained karyotype seems like a quaint low resolution black and white TV set – those cute … Continue reading
Filed under Robert Resta
