Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a genetic condition causing benign tumors (neurofibromas) to grow along certain types of nerves and, in addition, it can affect the development of bones or skin. There are several variants of the disease but type 1 and type 2 NF account for the vast majority of cases.
The disease manifestations can vary from very mild to severe. Major symptoms include growths on and under the skin; skin pigmentations called café au lait spots in type 1; acoustic nerve tumors and consequent hearing loss in type 2. Growths can affect nearly all parts of the body, and pressure on nearby structures can cause a wide variety of complications. There is a small risk that the tumors transform into malignant cancerous lesions.
NF is one of the most common single-gene human diseases; around 1 in 2,500-4,000 live births are affected by NF-1, whereas NF-2 occurs in about 1 in 50,000-120,000. Both type 1 and 2 are autosomal dominant conditions, meaning that only one copy of the mutated gene need be inherited to pass the disorder. A child of a parent with neurofibromatosis and an unaffected parent will have a 50% chance of inheriting the disorder. The gene responsible for NF-1 and possibly NF-2 is thought to function as a tumor suppressor gene.
In most cases of neurofibromatosis 1, patients can live normal and productive lives. In about 25-40% of patients there is an associated learning disability with or without ADHD. In some cases of neurofibromatosis 2, the damage to nearby vital structures, such as the cranial nerves and the brainstem, can be life-threatening. When tumors are causing pain or disfiguration, surgery is thus far the only proven beneficial treatment option.
Reggie Bibbs is a 43-year-old-man living in Houston, Texas. Mr Bibbs was born with a genetic disease called neurofibromatosis  (NF), which causes him to develop tumors on his body (see infobox on the right). NF can be a subtle disease, but in Bibbs' case it has left him with a disfigured face and deformed leg. But he is happy with the way he looks, and doesn't want to change his appearance to please other people. He has launched a successful campaign entitled "Just Ask", and that's just what Wikinews did in a video-interview.
The interview was prepared by Wikinews reporter Michaël Laurent with the help of Bertalan Meskó (who has a popular genetics and web 2.0 blog). Their questions were sent to a close friend of Mr. Bibbs, Lou Congelio, who kindly conducted the interview.

Wikinews: Can you explain to our readers in simple terms what exactly is neurofibromatosis?
WN: How are you affected?
WN: How did you find out you had NF?
WN: Was it painful?
WN: How did your mom react to finding out you had neurofibromatosis? Did she know anything about it?
WN: What causes NF?
WN: What was it like growing up, as a child in elementary school?
WN: Was your face as disfigured as it is now?
WN: You told me one time about a teacher in school who did something. Tell me about that.
WN: Have you encountered other incidents like this?
WN: What about others in your family with NF?
WN: If we had a tour of your body, show me from the head to your arms to your leg, how NF has affected you.
WN: Can you show me your arm?
WN: Okay, you point to, like, the one on your elbow. Does that hurt?
WN: So none of those hurt?
WN: Do any of them hurt, on your face or your leg?
WN: Where have you had surgeries?
WN: Can you turn your head to the right? Your left ear seems to be lower. How come?
WN: Do you have any vision in the left eye?
WN: Can you make out movement?
WN: Tell me about your leg.
WN: It looks very painful, your leg looks like it's an S.
WN: Okay, tell me about your shoe.
WN: Can you show me the side of your foot... and the other side?
WN: It looks like mainly the left side of your body is affected by NF. 
WN: Any reason for that?
WN: What's a regular day in your life like?
WN: Is it hard for you going outside your area?
WN: What kind of bad experiences have you had?
WN: How does that make you feel?
WN: What are you doing personally to raise awareness about NF?
WN: I heard you went to your first baseball game this year. Why didn't you go to a baseball game before?
WN: What would you say to somebody who sees you, who doesn't know you, doesn't know about neurofibromatosis, what would you tell them to do?
WN: You talked about telling these people (coughs) to just ask. You have a T-shirt on, tell me about the T-shirt.
WN: Tell me about your T-shirt, what's on the front?
WN: Could you stand up and show me?
WN: How important is that blog to people with NF?
WN: Do you think there's other people like you who don't want to go out in the public, and this is their link to people?
WN: Do you think by you going out and taking pictures and putting them on your blog, that you've made other people wanna do that too?
WN: Is there anything else you're doing on your website that we should know about?
WN: How has it been going?
WN: I've noticed that a couple celebrities are wearing your T-shirt.
WN: How are blog readers and YouTube users helping you [raising awareness, ed.]? And I guess that would include MySpace.
WN: Tell me about all the internet things that you are involved in.
WN: Why do you think there are so many people with NF on the internet?
WN: Reggie, were do you see yourself in five years?
WN: Are we close?
WN: Okay, thank you.
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Interview with Reggie Bibbs on his life with neurofibromatosis