Dna Today: A Genetics Podcast

Author Laura Kieger and her son, Dr. Alexander Kieger, share their family’s courageous, century-long struggle with a rare genetic cancer syndrome, Familial Adenomatous Polyposis.Familial adenomatous polyposis is a rare, genetic cancer predisposition syndrome caused by a deletion mutation in the APC gene on chromosome 5. By the age of 40, nearly 99% of untreated patients will develop cancer.This is the dark shadow that has lingered over their family since at least 1911, when Mary Regan Baker was seen at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for symptoms of a disorder that would become commonplace in her descendants.Through deeply touching personal stories of love, heartbreak, and hope, Laura’s book, Summer’s Complaint, explores the meaning of family and how tragic loss leads to the remaking of life in the face of a rare genetic mutation.Laura obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) and a Master’s degree in Human Development from St. Mary’s University. Dr. Alexander Kiege