11.   Consider, for example, a woman who has inherited a mutated gene from her mother and a normal one from her father.

12.   Cystic fibrosis, for instance, is caused by a mutated gene that codes for a faulty protein that makes the mucus in the lungs too viscous.

13.   Diseases that run in families are passed from one generation to the next by the inheritance of mutated genes.

14.   Dr. Barbara Weber is still reeling from the experience of a patient who told her insurance company that she had a mutated gene that could cause breast cancer.

15.   Even if you are not found to have inherited a mutated gene, you can still get breast cancer and you should continue with regular checkups.

16.   Fanconi is a recessive disorder, which means both parents must pass along one copy of the mutated gene in order for a child to develop the disease.

17.   Gordon cautioned, however, that the studies do not prove that the mutated gene caused diabetes to occur earlier in adults who would have ordinarily gotten it.

18.   His twin did not carry the mutated gene, and she is free of disease.

19.   If she has inherited a mutated gene, does that mean she has just one more reason to resent family elders?

20.   In addition, many women who are not Jewish but have a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer also inherited mutated genes.