Frameshift by Robert J. Sawyer
This science fiction novel is focused on a couple. Pierre Tardivel is a Canadian geneticist now working at a lab in California. Pierre knows that his father had Huntington's disease, and that therefore his chances of having it are fifty-fifty. His girlfriend, Molly Bond, has the ability to read people's thoughts when they are close to her. Their relationship works well because Pierre still thinks in French, a language Molly doesn't know and doesn't try to learn.
Pierre can get insurance coverage at work, but only if he undergoes the genetic test that will tell him if he has Huntington's, something he is loath to do. But even if he has it, he will be covered. Pierre grows interested in Molly's gift and looks at her DNA to figure out what makes her different in this way.
Meanwhile Avi Meyer, a federal investigator, is working to find former Nazis, and his path coincides with Pierre's when an attempt is made on Pierre's life. Pierre also starts to look at whether this attempt was more than coincidental, and who else has been murdered in the area. His research takes him in down several paths, not all of them successful.
And, of course, strung against Pierre's avenues of research is the ever-debilitating disease within him, limiting his own ability to move, think, and live the life he wants.
This is a novel of science, but also one of ethics. An interesting look at DNA and its inner workings alongside mankind and our motivations.
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