The Issues with Genetic Testing

There are two main ways genetic testing places a constraint on a child’s right to an open future. The first of these is that the revelation of a child’s disease status can change his life narrative and the way parents and others treat him, and substantially alter his or her life’s trajectory (Davis _____). Parents may feel guilty or shelter their not-yet-sick

Gina Kolata’s article, Ethics Questions Arise as Genetic Testing of Embryos Increases (2014), explains that as the increase of the testing of embryos for parents to choose whether or not to have children has also brought its ethical questions in the light. Kolata uses the Kalinskys case, a family in the article, and how their neurological disease, Gerstmann-Straussler-Schinker (GSS), has raised questions for ethicists who have looked into the case. Kolata’s purpose in writing this article is to inform the audience on the growing topic of embryo testing and also the ethical question that also accompany in order to have the audience to develop a personal view on the issue. Given how the author explains the technical terms used within the article, Kolata is writing to an audience that is not fully aware of genetic testing.

The inclusion of genetic testing into Electronic Health Records impacts the overall healthcare of patient’s because it informs the physicians and other medical professionals the selection of effective treatment or preventive action. A manager’s responsibilities are to implement policies to protect the confidentiality, privacy, and security of genetic tests results and information of patient’s. Policies contributing to potential discrimination acts are also advised because genetic/genomic testing reveals a patient’s physical characteristics.

   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

Recreational genetics: Some genetic testing carries no risk of impact on health or wellbeing. For example, “recreational” genetics may involve testing the type of earwax one has, while “genealogy” or “ancestry” genetics may involve determining which country a person’s original ancestors came from. DTC can be very convenient for this type of genetic testing. Paternity testing and forensic genetics: Genetic testing can be used to establish the identity of people, and to test if two people are related to each other. This type of testing is highly regulated by the courts and involves testing in accredited pathology laboratories. Community genetics: Community genetics offers testing directly to the consumer, but only as part of a full healthcare program involving accredited pathology laboratories and registered health practitioners. Community genetics is often relevant to consumers from particular geographic origins and community groups, and can be used to screen for risk of particular inherited disorders such as “Tay-Sachs disease” which is a serious disorder affecting young children. Medical genetics: Genetic testing is increasingly used to diagnose a range of diseases including inherited disorders and some cancers. This type of testing is only carried out as part of a medical consultation, and the treating practitioner will use an accredited laboratory to test the sample and

When people experience genetic tests, privacy incorporates the privilege to make an educated, free choice about whether others may know points of interest of their genome, e.g., insurance, businesses, instructive foundations, spouses and other relatives, scientists, and social agencies. This incorporates a privilege to settle on certain conceptive decisions, for example, regardless of whether to utilize genetic testing. It likewise incorporates a privilege to reject treatment. A couple of court choices discover security for such data under the established precept of security, yet more ordinarily, security assurance against revelation of individual data is found under customary law tort principle. (7) Moreover, there is a federal privacy act, (8) and in addition state statutes ensuring

Genetic information can be identified at any point throughout a person’s lifespan from pre-conception until after death. In addition to heritable, biological information, family history, genetic test results, and medical records are also sources of genetic information” (Jenkins & Lea, 2005). We are put in a position to gather and retain information that could be utilized for a better future, but is confidentiality involved for the sake of profiting? Ask yourself, who should have access to genetic information? Who owns and controls it? How can families resolve conflicts when some members want to be tested for a genetic disorder and others do not?

<br>4. The rights of knowing someone's own health status and keeping that information private to oneself should be provided to all members of a society. Only the individual should have full access to information about his own genetic constitution and others should be prevented by legal regulations. As we have said above, the results of genetic tests can sometimes be detrimental to the individual. If a person does not want to know the information, its nobody's business nor right to declare it. This includes even not explaining favorable test results without the individual's request.

Although the gene chip will enable an individual to know whether he/she has a genetic disease, that person may not want to know the information. Many people are frightened that a positive finding on a genetic test will result in discrimination and ostracism because the society will consider them abnormal (Easthope 2005). The other concern is that with genetic test information one might lose or might be unable to get a job or insurance. There have been concerns that with the knowledge of one’s medical information after a gene test, he/she might suffer a psychological problem especially when the results reveal that one suffers from a terminal disease or has high possibility of suffering from one (Willis 2009).

What are the most serious genetic diseases and what are the pros and cons of genetic testing?

Although genetic testing can benefit society in numerous ways, such as the diagnosis of vulnerabilities to inherited diseases and ancestry verification, it also has the precarious capability to become a tool in selecting a more favorable genetic makeup of an individuals and ultimately cloning humans. Genetic testing will depreciate our quality of life and may result in discrimination, invasion of privacy, and harmful gene therapy.

There has been a big change in caring for people who have genetic mutations. Genetic testing gives doctors the ability to prevent a patient risk of cancer. A pro of genetic testing is the opportunity to better understand the development of certain disease. You can then take a step to help the situation. The con is that it may cause more problems than it solves.

The Goal of the Human Genome Project is to obtain genetic mapping information and to determine the complete sequence of all human DNA by the year of 2005. The project started in 1990 and 180 million dollars are being spent on it annually. This adds up to a total of over 2 billion dollars for the 15 year budget. Of this 2 billion dollars budgeted, 5% is spent annually on the ethical, legal and social issues. This report focused on some of these issues.

The increase in genetic testing has resulted in the convergence of public health, morals and ethics. Many ethics related issues arise with genetic testing, as well of fear that insurance companies will not reimburse such services. Many moral and ethical obligations appear with genetic testing. For instance, the decision to inform relatives of a patient with test results, whether positive or negative is highly controversial. The decision to inform or not varies, and is based on different moral theories.

I personally see anything wrong with genetic testing. I believe genetic testing is actually a pretty good thing to test and see if fetuses are going to be born with defects. as I read the first article and I saw there are problems with genetic testing such as the fetus die or be born with defects because of the testing I believe that that is something I'm willing to put in the line to see if my child with. I also agree that genetic testing should be up to the parents of that fetus because there are major side effects and deformities that are very serious that may happen to the fetus.