A genetic counselor is consulted by a young man who is worried about developing Huntington’s disease, an inherited disorder caused by a dominant allele of a single gene. The young man explains that his cousin was recently diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, and the news has caused him to consider his own risk of developing the disorder. Which of the following questions will best help the genetic counselor to evaluate the risk of the young man developing Huntington’s disease and transmitting it to his children?

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Since the disease is inherited as a dominant allele of a single gene, one could construct a pedigree if information regarding relatives is available.

Being born in the same geographical area does not always mean two individuals are related.

Physical contact does not spread the disease.

Substances could cause changes to an individual's genome, but happens at random and is not a reliable indicator for a specific disease. If there were more definite links then this would be reasonable, such as the link between smoking and lung cancer.