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In her collection of essays Transient and Strange, Nell Greenfieldboyce shares how her husband's diagnosis of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) affected their lives, especially as they decided to start a family. PKD is a genetic condition involving the growth of high numbers of cysts—fluid-filled sacs—in the kidneys and sometimes other organs. Over time, these cysts can cause kidney enlargement and damage, leading to reduced function and eventually kidney failure.
There are two versions of PKD, depending on whether the mutated gene carrying the disease is dominant or recessive. Every person has two copies of each gene—one from each parent. If a trait is dominant, then only one of these versions of the gene needs to carry the trait for the person to have the trait—in this case, the disease. If a trait is recessive, then they must receive a gene carrying the trait from both parents in order to have the disease. The more common form of the disease is the ...
