Genetic diseases pose not just a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge given the complexity of most conditions, but even a moral one. How does one reconcile an error in nature’s bloodline, a mismatch in a code as old as life itself?

Myoclonic Epilepsy with Ragged Red Fibers (MERRF) is a genetic condition that occurs as a result of mitochondrial DNA mutations leading to a mitochondrial myopathy as well as an epilepsy syndrome. Patients, mostly young children, exhibit profound impairments, ataxia, myoclonus or body jerking and muscle biopsies that demonstrate classic ragged red fibers that help confirm the diagnosis

This piece aims to capture the appearance of Ragged Red fibers and an abstract visual of muscle sarcomeres. It further captures a southern blot test which are classically utilized for DNA genotyping. The interrupted burst pattern is also pathognomonic for myoclonic episodes.