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In recent years, genetic testing has become a popular topic in the media. Usually involving cheek swabs, blood samples, or amniotic fluid samples, the procedure is relatively simple and can help diagnose genetic disorders, determine ideal medication types, or simply determine the patient’s heritage. It has saved many lives from cancer and other afflictions, but to say that genetic testing is always the correct choice is false. There are many issues with the tests, considering that they are new to the medical world. Genetic testing is mostly harmful because of privacy concerns, how underdeveloped it is, and the risk of it pushing a mother to abort her child. In today’s world, nothing is private; not even personal genetic information. Results from genetic testing can be accessed by employers and insurance companies. Until the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) was passed in 2008, employers could deny people jobs and insurance companies could raise their rates solely based a person’s genetic makeup, even if someone is …show more content…
an unaffected carrier of a disorder. This act has helped with privacy concerns tremendously, but people are not totally free from privacy violations. According to an article about “secret” DNA testing, “...someone can pick up your discarded coffee cup and send it for (DNA) testing”. (Gutmann) This is legal in many states. Someone out to soil a co-worker’s reputation could literally watch their fellow employee blow their nose onto a tissue and then send that tissue in to a company such as easyDNA, a testing facility that accepts everything from licked stamps to chewed gum. If it turns out that the co-worker is carrying a disease, the meddlesome person can spread this information around to the entire office. In addition, illegal discrimination by insurance companies can and does occur. Genetic testing is too widely available, and until there are more restrictions it is probably best to not get tested. DNA testing has only been around since the mid-1980’s, so it is still underdeveloped. New information is constantly being learned. In fact, most genes known about today have only been recently named and categorized. Many genes still have not been discovered. Information about a gene’s function is very likely to change over time, so what is thought to be true today may not be in ten years. Because of our limited knowledge of the human genome, tests may be inaccurate. In some cases, illnesses that a patient supposedly will suffer from in their lifetime might never develop! According to the website of the Human Genome Project, about 1% of genes (or 21) are undiscovered because of the lack of technology sufficient to find them. This may seem like a small amount, but it still shows that we need better technology. People need to be careful about reading too much into their test results, as even the world’s top geneticists don’t know everything about every gene. Probably the most well-known use of genetic testing is finding disorders in a fetus.
Technology is available to identify disorders such as Down Syndrome, although these tests are only accurate about 60% of the time. It seems strange that people rely on tests like this before they even see the child and can know for sure if they have any disorders. Imagine testing a fetus for complications in their genome and receiving positive results, only to find out after birth that nothing is wrong. Upon finding out that their child is probably affected by a disorder, some mothers would abort the child in this situation. This issue resonates well with pro-life citizens, who say a child should never be aborted. Some with the opposing belief would say that abortion in this case is acceptable. Abortion should never be performed if this is the only reason for doing so. If the mother wanted to have a child in the first place, she should follow through with her
plans. Taking a genetic test is a risk. When someone sends their samples in to a testing facility, there is no way to know how that information can be used. Companies, including the ones who performed the testing, can publicise or use these results against the patient, even though this is illegal. If the patient does manage to get their results back untouched, then they might have incorrect information. In the case of prenatal tests, this could cause a mother to abort her child. Although the intentions of genetic testing are good, things don’t always work out.
Studies to make the process quicker and cleaner are under development.... ... middle of paper ... ... Insurance providers and other holders of genetic information should be prohibited from releasing genetic information (Hudson, 1998). Guidelines like these need to be formed into a federal law that people can pass in one way or another so that we can be protected from the various forms of discrimination that is possible with this kind of information.
Teutch, S., & Tuckson, R. Department of Health & Human Services, (2008). U.S. system of oversight of genetic testing: A response to the charge of the secretary of health and human services. Retrieved from website: http://osp.od.nih.gov/sites/default/files/SACGHS_oversight_report.pdf
Imagine being discriminated because of something beyond your control. This type of discrimination is called genetic discrimination which is when one is discriminated and or treated differently by their employment or insurance company because of their genetic makeup (National Institutes of Health). The phobia of genetic discrimination is gripping many people around the world. People find themselves asking, “Could my genetic makeup raise my health bills? Could this cause me to be rejected from a career opportunity?” Because of genetic discrimination, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act was created. The purpose of this act is to protect Americans from being treated unfairly because of differences in their DNA that may affect their health. Although this law was created, genetic discrimination still happens today. Genetic discrimination may exist for potential reasons but it is still inequitable and wrong due to its negative effect on society and the great harm it can cause.
Gene testing is the practice of testing individuals who show no symptoms to determine whether they carry genes that could cause them or their children to develop certain genetic diseases later in life. Gene screening is a very controversial topic because of the risks that come with it. Would you want to know if you’ll develop a life threatening disease later in life? Many individuals would want to know this, but some would not. Personally, I think gene testing is ethical under certain conditions.
There are several types of genetic tests that can give us a broad amount of information about ourselves, our parents and/or children (What is testing?). Personally, I see advantages and disadvantages to it. Anyone is able to find the probability of them having a disorder or disease and start dealing with before it gets to a lethal stage. For women, it is reassuring to know whether a disorder that they possess can be passed on to their children or not. They can also know whether their child is healthy or not before it is even born. It also impacts on how scientists deal with diseases since they are given a different output of the disease at its early stages and allows them to study it until a cure is found. But what happens when your private information goes public? People will be treated differently because of a high risk of having a cancer in the future. In your CV, your past experiences and your qualities will be accompanied by your genetics test results that inform the company whether you will be a risk to them in the future. A new kind of discrimination will be created in our society. A second major disadvantage to genetic testing is people using it for “superficial” purposes like changing children’s eye colors and other biological characteristics that should not be changes. Above the disadvantages are the benefits which are why I am all for the genetic testing for health-related purposes.
The genetic technology revolution has proved to be both a blessing and a blight. The Human Genome Project is aimed at mapping and sequencing the entire human genome. DNA chips are loaded with information about human genes. The chip reveals specific information about the individuals’ health and genetic makeup (Richmond & Germov 2009).The technology has been described as a milestone by many in that it facilitates research, screening, and treatment of genetic conditions. However, there have been fears that the technology permits a reduction in privacy when the information is disclosed. Many argue that genetic information can also be used unfairly to discriminate against or stigmatize individuals (Willis 2009).
Some fetuses are proven to have a genetic abnormality. There are many cases where the fetus is said to be born with unhealthy; down syndrome, cancer, disability, and many other uncommon cases. “An ultrasound report suggests about the physical development of the fetus. During the early months of pregnancy, many things can go wrong as a new baby starts developing. The cells are multiplying at a very fast rate that can cause some complex interactions between newly formed body parts. Such interactions may cause serious defect to the child and may also invite complications in pregnancy.” There are other tests such as amniocentesis, which are performed between 14 – 20 weeks. This test detects a variety of chromosomal abnormalities and genetic disorders. Women and their husbands should have the right to be able to decide whether they are capable of raising their children with serious conditions or not. It could be very tough financially, emotionally, and physically. Financially speaking if the child is mentally or physically ill, the parents would have to make a certain budget plan since they need extra care. Disabled kids take more time to be potty trained, and some unfortunately aren’t able at all so that would result in a life time budget of diapers. Others may require physical, speech, and occupational therapy. Some families aren’t able to afford
...etic tests, I believe that both before and after genetic tests individuals should be required to meet with genetic counselors that help explain the test and interpret the results. Finally, although legislation preventing insurance and employment discrimination based on a person's genetic makeup already exists in many states, I think that additional laws need to be enacted that deny insurance companies and employers access to genetic information without a person's consent. As Matt Ridley (1999) states, a person's genome is his or her "own property," and people should be given complete freedom to decide to whom to disclose their genetic information (p. 269).
In today’s world, people are learning a great deal in the rapidly growing and developing fields of science and technology. Almost each day, an individual can see or hear about new discoveries and advances in these fields of study. One science that is rapidly progressing is genetic testing; a valuable science that promotes prevention efforts for genetically susceptible people and provides new strategies for disease management. Unnaturally, and morally wrong, genetic testing is a controversial science that manipulates human ethics. Although genetic testing has enormous advantages, the uncertainties of genetic testing will depreciate our quality of life, and thereby result in psychological burden, discrimination, and abortion.
Genetic testing, also known as screening, is a rapidly advancing new scientific field that can potentially revolutionize not only the world of medicine, but many aspects of our lives. Genetic screening is the sequencing of human DNA in order to discover genetic differences, anomalies, or mutations that may prove pathological. As genetic screening becomes more advanced and easily accessible, it presents society with difficult questions that must be asked about the boundaries of science and to what degree we are allowed to tamper with the human genome. To better understand the potential impact of genetic screening on our society, we must examine the potential benefits in comparison to the possible negative impact it may cause. With this knowledge in hand, we can examine what the future holds for this field of study and the best possible direction to take.
Genetic testing has become very popular as technology has improved, and has opened many doors in the scientific community. Genetic testing first started in 1866 by a scientist known as, Gregor Mendel, when he published his work on pea plants. The rest was history after his eyes opening experiments on pea plants. However, like any other scientific discovery, it bought conflicts which caused major controversies and a large population disagreed with the concept of playing with the genetic codes of human beings. Playing God was the main argument that people argument that people had against genetics. genetic testing became one of the major conflicts conflicts to talk about, due to the fact that parents could now have the option of deciding if they
The days of taking vitamins, eating certain foods, and conceiving a pregnancy on a specific date in attempt to have a baby boy or girl are over. During the IVF process doctors are able to test embryos for viability before they are implanted into the uterus. The pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) examines chromosome development and checks for genetic abnormalities. Sex is a chromosome which means specialists can determine the gender of an embryo before it is implanted. More and more couples are taking advantage of PGS and some have even picked the gender of their babies. After celebrities John Legend and Chrissy Teigen announced that they had chosen the sex of their daughter, a controversial issue was brought to light. Parents should be allowed to partake in sex selection of their children due to the fact that IVF is used in situations of infertility, it's a personal choice, and the process is completely safe.
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...
While genetic testing may be a moral question in terms of preserving the unique advances homo sapiens have accomplished, it proves to be an undoubtable advantage in terms of evolutionary success and advancement. Genetic testing can be done in various forms and during various stages of human development, from an embryo to an elder. The U.S National Library of Medicine defines genetic testing as a medical test that identifies changes in chromosomes, genes or proteins. They also define the test as one with many pros and cons, requiring a complex personal decision. This distinction between both scientific and humanistic approaches to testing mirrors the divide in which testing is regarded as a positive or negative tool for the human species. Genetic
During the following paragraphs I will discuss reasons why genetic testing needs to remain the choice of the people involved and not become compulsory. Genetic testing can be done in a number of ways such as by taking blood, taking hair samples, skin analysis and amniotic fluid samples. These samples