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trinucleotide repeat disorder

An illness in which there is an abnormally large number of repeats of a specific codon (sequence of three nucleotides that code for an amino acid). In HD, the repeated codon is C-A-G, which codes for the amino acid glutamine.  In addition to Huntington’s disease, other trinucleotide repeat disorders include fragile X syndrome and spinobulbar muscular atrophy.