BRCA1 functional status has demonstrated itself to be of great clinical value over the past several years, as BRCA1 deficient tumors have proven to be highly susceptible to selective modulators of DNA damage repair pathways such as PARP inhibitors, and therefore can be exploited pharmacologically to effectively treat these cancers in a manner that is less cytotoxic to healthy tissues than traditional chemotherapy regimens (Helleday, 2011). The gene discussed is BRCA1; the disease is cancer.