1969

Okada & O’Brien’s identification of enzyme (Hx-A) responsible for normal breakdown of lipids, which was missing in children with Tay-Sachs disease (TSD). It “opened up the possibility that fetuses could be diagnosed in utero – and that abortion could save parents from the anguish of watching their apparently normal child degenerate and die” (Wailoo & Pemberton, 24). TSD redefined as a Hex-A deficiency, which included forms other than TSD as lethal disease of Ashkenazi Jews (25). “In the cultural terms of the day, the movement to eradicate TSD in the 1970s and 1980s was a success story – one that stood in stark contrast to other prevention efforts. It was an exemplary case of genetic information positively applied to the eradication of disease, an affirmation that scientific intervention can be carried out in a way that respects community values and cultural self-determination” (56).