Don’t do commercial genetic testing, it’s $1,000 and a big waste of your time and money. Not only are you wasting your time and money on something that isn’t ethical, you’re giving the companies the right to your past. How would you know if they’re trustworthy as well? I feel there needs to be more transparency when it comes to commercial DNA testing. Commercial genetic testing is unethical because you don’t know what they’re going to do with your DNA and also you’ll be losing a big part of your privacy.
When we look into ethics, we must first understand what ethics is. Ethics (as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary): “The discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation”. So when we think of people doing
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unethical activities, we think of them doing activities that go against the morals of the public and our own morals. One thing that I can think of is if a couple was trying for a baby but the women gave herself a pregnancy test and it was negative, so before they tried again they sent their DNA to 23andMe to see if they would have any risk of bad diseases. The test comes back as they both have recessive genes for CF (Cystic Fibrosis). They decide not to take the risk of letting their baby have CF so they stop trying for a baby. A few weeks later, she gets the suspicion that she is pregnant, so she goes in and gets an ultrasound to find out she is pregnant. Knowing that there may be a risk of CF they get the baby tested only to find out she has CF. They are now faced with an ethical decision, do they take a chance knowing that their unborn child will suffer from this genetic disorder or do they abort the baby? One of the biggest problems with DNA testing or even commercial DNA testing is that the data is inconsistent. One thing that was brought to my attention was in 2012, Scott Brown had lost the election to Elizabeth Warrner. He ended up stating that Warrner had made up that she was part Native American to appeal to larger crowds. There had been documents showing that her great-great-great grandmother was Cherokee but nothing official. Brown wanted Warrner to prove that she was 1/32 Cherokee by doing a DNA test (Gross, Slate). Although it may not have been a commercial DNA test, the scientists who took the test, said that there was no way to prove heritage from DNA because many people who have a Native American marker may show up in someone who has no connections to Native Americans. If a regulated DNA test couldn’t confirm genetic markers, could an unregulated commercial DNA test do better? If 23andMe tests you and all of the tests you asked for comes back negative, you still may be at an increase for the disease(s) they told you, you are negative for, due to family history. Above I said that you run the risk of losing your privacy, but you should know that by sending in your DNA you are letting the company who took your DNA look into your privacy, shouldn’t you? When I think of privacy I think that if someone wants some of your personal information that they ask you for it, when you ask someone for something you are asking for their consent. If you were accused of a murder and you wouldn’t let the police take your DNA, you don’t drink anything or chew gum, but you sent your spit to 23andMe and they had your DNA on file, shouldn’t they let you know if the police are going to use your DNA or do they let them have it? On 23andMe they say that they’ll ask for your consent unless you can not be identified as an individual or there is a court order to. The company should alert you that they are sharing your “personal information”, should they not? Will they give you good readings or bad readings? One of the most asked questions about DNA testing is, is there Native American ancestry in the background? To tell you if you are from a Native American tribe, that can’t be done accurately from a regulated DNA test let alone an unregulated DNA test. There is a mitochondrial haplogroup called H3, and it is present in many European descent, not in a lot of Native American descent (DNAeXplained - Genetic Genealogy). At 23andMe they mistake that for Native American descent. When 23andMe tests you for Native American descent, they look at previous DNA from samples they have identified as Native American and compares yours to those DNA strings. One thing that they look for is the haplogroup H3 and a lot of times that gets misinterpreted for Native American descent when all it comes from European descent, and only the mom carries the marker. How does commercial DNA testing work?
Commercial DNA tests work like this, you pay about $100-$200, 23andMe will send you a box within about 5-8 days, and you spit into a tube and return the box. Then you wait for about 6-8 weeks, and then you look at your results. 23andMe gives you your results by sequencing the DNA which means they take one of your DNA strands, untwist it and look at the nucleotides (the most basic part of the DNA), and these sequences will tell you if you are at risk for genetic disorders. Nucleotides are the genetic are the part of the DNA that tell the DNA what to make. Then the DNA tells the cells what to make, then the cells make it. The most common one being Alzheimer's. You can’t tell if you are someone's biological parent or child from these tests though. A regulated DNA test takes DNA from a child and DNA from a parent since the child will had got half of their DNA from one of their parents. If you test a fragment of DNA from a parent and a child about 50% of it should match the parent. So if you take 12 fragments of DNA from the child according to the statistics, 6 fragments will match and that will prove if they child is really the parents or not (Medical Genomics). What I am trying to say is that when you do an unregulated DNA test you get a lot less information than what a regulated DNA test will give
you. Unregulated or commercial DNA tests are a unethical because of the fact that you could make other unethical decisions like choosing if a baby should stay alive or not or losing your privacy. I also stated that you get a lot more information from regulated DNA tests, that are in the hands of highly trained professionals, not just a 4 year trained graduate. I don’t think that I would ever get an unregulated DNA test just for the fact that I would want to hear it from a doctor and not see it on a piece of paper.
Ethics is a doing and learning experience which causes us as humans to keep an open mind to change. Generally, ethics ask us to live mindfully, to think how we act and even how we feel or do things, which can change the outcome. Sometimes we go down certain roads, which may be harder or make things more complicated or complex instead of making an easier option we just take the easier way out, usually the way that calls for
In Gattaca, the plot focuses on the ethics, the risks, and the emotional impact of genetic testing in the nearby future. The film was released in the 90s; yet in the present, the film does not give the impression of science fiction. Today, genetic testing is prevalent in many aspects of the scientific community. This paper will describe genetic testing, its purpose, diagnostic techniques that use genetic testing, relating Huntington’s disease to genetic testing, and the pros and cons of genetic testing.
Ethics are the principles that shape individual lives in modern society. It is a subjective idea that seems to have a standard in society. Ethics and morals are the major factors that guide individuals to make right and wrong choices. Something that is morally right to one person might be the very opposite of what another person would view as right. There are many factors that can trigger a change in an individual’s view of morality.
Picture a young couple in a waiting room looking through a catalogue together. This catalogue is a little different from what you might expect. In this catalogue, specific traits for babies are being sold to couples to help them create the "perfect baby." This may seem like a bizarre scenario, but it may not be too far off in the future. Designing babies using genetic enhancement is an issue that is gaining more and more attention in the news. This controversial issue, once thought to be only possible in the realm of science-fiction, is causing people to discuss the moral issues surrounding genetic enhancement and germ line engineering. Though genetic research can prove beneficial to learning how to prevent hereditary diseases, the genetic enhancement of human embryos is unethical when used to create "designer babies" with enhanced appearance, athletic ability, and intelligence.
Richard Williams proposed that the issue of human freedom be re-conceptualized. Rejecting the traditional view of self-direction as the possibility of choosing among alternatives, Williams suggested that we ground our understanding of individual freedom in morality. In this view, human freedom is enhanced as one "lives truthfully." Truthful living runs counter to self-deception and thereby opens the way for greater freedom, which is fundamentally concerned with being, or existing. It is also concerned with doing or choosing, but only as such individual actions harmonize with an already existing schema of existence When the act of choosing results in self-deception, one cannot automatically assume that choice has been exercised. If deception occurs, one has merely used the freedom to choose to step out of the arena in which it exists. The Aristotelian ethics concurs with the basic tenets of Williams' philosophy.
Genetic testing has been a very controversial topic. While some people believe that genetic testing is completely right in any situation, others believe that it is completely wrong in any situation. However, both sides prove valid points of why genetic testing is both right and wrong. Genetic testing can be very good when it is being used for helpful reasons. However, genetic testing can also be very bad when it is used for the wrong reasons. Genetic testing is okay to do as long as it is being done for the right reasons and following good moral guidelines.
The Human Genome Project is the largest scientific endeavor undertaken since the Manhattan Project, and, as with the Manhattan Project, the completion of the Human Genome Project has brought to surface many moral and ethical issues concerning the use of the knowledge gained from the project. Although genetic tests for certain diseases have been available for 15 years (Ridley, 1999), the completion of the Human Genome Project will certainly lead to an exponential increase in the number of genetic tests available. Therefore, before genetic testing becomes a routine part of a visit to a doctor's office, the two main questions at the heart of the controversy surrounding genetic testing must be addressed: When should genetic testing be used? And who should have access to the results of genetic tests? As I intend to show, genetic tests should only be used for treatable diseases, and individuals should have the freedom to decide who has access to their test results.
Genetic testing is a type of medical test that identifies changes in chromosomes, genes, or proteins. Genetic test may be useful for determining a person chance of developing a genetic disorder or determining their chances of developing or passing on a genetic disorder. Geneticists examine your DNA to look at variations in DNA sequences called genetic markers that indicate a person's predisposition for developing an inherited disease that may run in their family. Deicing whether to get a genetic testing or not is a personal decision, but it can be very tough decision.
Is DNA testing really worth the money and effort everyone puts into it? Sometimes it's hard to tell. Many times it seems like everything's going fine, then people look further into it to see it’s not going as well as everybody
Genetic engineering gives the power to change many aspects of nature and could result in a lot of life-saving and preventative treatments. Today, scientists have a greater understanding of genetics and its role in living organisms. However, if this power is misused, the damage could be very great. Therefore, although genetic engineering is a field that should be explored, it needs to be strictly regulated and tested before being put into widespread use. Genetic engineering has also, opened the door way to biological solutions for world problems, as well as aid for body malfunctions. I think that scientists should indeed stop making genetic engineering for humans, because it will soon prove to be devastating to the human race. It would cause rivalries and tension among different kinds of genetically engineered humans for dominance and power.
Ethics is a word that can be used loosely, so it’s important to understand the meaning of this question by first discussing what is meant by personal ethics or professional ethics.
Ethics deals with actions with adequate standard of attitudes, behavior that is pleasing to the people or organizations. Every job has a code of ethical conduct that is supposed to be is followed. It is very necessary to understand that ethical rules must apply and obey with basis of what is right and wrong which is written in the law. That is why there are professions that have organizations or associations which have the method of ethical conducts or standard.
Genetic testing can help people determine why they get cancer or other diseases. Genetic testing is recommended to people who have a family history of a genetic disease, have children who are born with genetic defects, and have gone through more than one miscarriage in the past. Though these te...
When asked what is the definition of ethics, many responded that being moral meant doing the right thing. But how can we justify what is a good action and what is a bad action? All humans were created equal, but our principles, and ways of thinking can be extremely different. Some may say doing the right thing means following your heart, your inner feelings and intuition. But emotions can be misleading. Others say in order to do what is the morally right thing means to follow the law and do what is right by society, to be accepted. But today’s society is judgmental and can be corrupted with numerous opinions due to the diversity of cultures. So what does it mean to be ethical? Being ethical means doing what is right in terms of virtues, fairness, duties, responsibilities, obligations, and moral believes all which derived from cultures and family backgrounds.
Ethics is the philosophical study of morality. These days our society is changing due to advanced technology, hence the study of ethics is very important than the previous decades. In fact, the study of ethics is not a new issue but Socrates and Plato used ethical reasoning to explain different unjust issues before 2000 years. Ethics is one of the major issues, which does have not any guideline to a particular activity that is morally good, bad or neutral. However, everyone has different understanding and judgment about ethics depend on their cultural, economical, and family back ground. For instance, lying is unethical in most society and it is normal for some other cultures. Therefore, it is difficult to give universal meaning about morality as it depends on a given culture. For this reason, I would say there is not a single universal standard to label someone’s ethical decision as right and wrong. However, all countries should adopt ethical behavior with their environment in order to have honesty and caring society. An Individual can choose among different alternatives based on his or her ethical decision, but it is very difficult to say his or her ethical decision is right or wrong.