Abstract
How can we understand vulnerability in terms of genetic knowledge? Handling genetic vulnerability by the example of Huntington’s Disease. Among other factors everyone’s disposition to health and disease depends on the individual genetic constitution. Knowledge about this connection can be considered as the genetic version of the constitutional condition of human vulnerability. People growing up in a family with a hereditary disease often live in permanent awareness of their vulnerability. If there exists the possibility of genetic predictive testing, one has to decide whether to know or not. Huntington’s disease is a wellknown example of this situation. This paper is about comprehending the experiences people with risk for Huntington’s disease go through during the process of decision-making as well as coping with the definitive result of genetic predictive testing. The aim is to gain insight into what people experience, how they deal with this kind of confrontation with their own vulnerability and what they perceive as supportive in this process.
