INTRODUCTION
- Tay-Sachs disease is a rare hereditary disorder that causes the progressive destruction of the nervous system. It is caused by a lack of or a mutation in the enzyme beta-hexosaminidase (a component in the body that deals with the removal of waste build-up in cells). The most cases of this disease have been linked to the Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jew ethnicity, and it is prevalent in people of Irish, French Canadian, and Louisiana Cajun descent as well, but anyone from any background can acquire Tay-Sachs.