Science & technology | Dancing with deathA better understanding of Huntingtons disease brings hopePrevious research seems to have misinterpreted what is going onIllustration: Keith Negley Jan 16th 2025|Cambridge, MassachusettsHuntingtons disease is horrible. It is also odd. Illnesses caused by inherited aberrant genes are mostly what geneticists call recessive, meaning someone must receive defective versions of the gene involved from both mother and father. Huntingtons, the symptoms of which start with involuntary jerking, mood swings and memory problems, and end with death, is dominantmeaning only one parent need be a carrier to pass it on.Explore moreThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Dancing with deathFrom the January 18th 2025 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content