Improving your chances: In future, gene-directed diet advice has potential to head off problems.(Chicago Tribune)

Your best friend can nibble fatty foods all day and never have a cholesterol problem, while your blood cholesterol level hovers in the unhealthy range even though you make a conscious effort to cut back. Blame it on _ or give credit to _ your genetic makeup.

Besides directing physical attributes, like the color of your eyes, the texture of your hair, and your body's shape, your genes also dictate whether you may develop chronic disorders such as cancer, heart disease or diabetes.

"But your genes don't tell the whole story," says Ruth DeBusk, a geneticist and registered dietitian in Tallahassee, Fla. "Our lifestyle choices are the wild card.

"Whether you're able to dodge disease is greatly determined by factors that influence the workings of your genes, including diet, activity level and exposure to environmental hazards like smoking and ultraviolet light."

Adding to such generally known influences is research on how we may be able to …