8.5 Summary of Section 8

Genes do influence development. However, genes do not always determine the developmental path. The prognosis for Wilson's disease is very good, because environmental intervention is possible. The prognosis for lissencephaly will remain poor for the foreseeable future. For many other characters the relationship with the genome is very complex. Searching for genetic correlates to disease will continue to be a major enterprise, but finding such a correlate should be likened to finding an accomplice, not finding a cause.