While many ailments are considered terrifying,
Lesch-Nyhan is the stuff of nightmares. An extremely rare genetic neurological disorder with no cure, it often compels its victims to self-mutilate, even when they understand that doing so causes them harm.
Richard Preston used Lesch-Nyhan as a plot device in his best-selling thriller
The Cobra Event, and went on to write a fascinating article about the disease, its sufferers, and its implications for human behavior in the
New Yorker. [PDF].
[more inside]
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul
on Jun 5, 2008 -
35 comments
