CONTROVERSIES in GENETIC TESTING
There are various controversies
involved with genetic testing. Although
there are many positive aspects like aiding and extending the human lifespan, there
are issues involving social living, discrimination, confidentiality, consent,
and equity. Such issues involve conflict
between personal families due to individuals or their immediate relatives being
tested. Not only that but it can lead to legal problems. As members of society, we must ask were do we
draw the line on the spectrum and decide where the benefit outweighs the risk?
Genetic testing is a type of
screening to see if someone could develop a disease based on his or her genetic
makeup or has a genetic disorder or condition.
One may want to have genetic testing done for various reasons: If a family
has a history of one specific disease, if one shows symptoms of a genetic
disorder and could thus benefit from early diagnosis, or if parents are worried
about the possibility of their offspring inheriting a genetic trait from them. By gaining this information from genetic
testing, questions concerning who can find out this information, whether or not
other family members should know this information, and whose responsibility it
is to reveal this information to family members, if needed, can cause problems.
Having the power of genetic
technology to gain knowledge about, test for and make changes in human genetic
traits poses a few issues. For example, would it be wrong to choose the
preferred traits for your unborn offspring? Also, would knowing and revealing
the information about having or being predisposed to a genetic disorder prevent
someone from being refused life insurance or healthcare? The fact that
information about someone or their family becomes known to the genetic
researchers means that other people can learn about this information from the
research team, and thus confidentiality is not secured. Although insurance
companies require health records, should people be exempt from showing their
genetic history? Finally, would genetic testing be available to all classes?
Yes, there are many different
scenarios on this matter in terms of whether you are affected directly or
indirectly with a disorder. In addition,
with how our society is run in terms of insurance, healthcare, relationships, fairness,
and the separation of what should be personal and what should not can cause a
lot of tension and stress. We must be
able to have some way of judging when it is ok or not ok to undergo genetic
testing based on the situation.
Posted by Marshall Moini (1)
http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~mcclean/plsc431/students/friesen.htm (1)
It's interesting to think about the future of gene testing and how beneficial it can be for disease diagnosis. Although new gene technologies are being developed with great potential for diagnosing disease, it is scary to think about how genetic engineering could allow us to be able to turn genes in developing fetuses on or off. As a biology major, I love science but sometimes we need to remember that some things should just be kept natural.
ReplyDeletePosted by Poya Jafari
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIndeed genetic testing is becoming beneficial for disease diagnosis. To some degree I agree with you that some things should be kept natural, but if we can work on the safety of technologies involved with turning genes on or off in developing fetuses, we could prevent some of the devastating diseases and suffering caused by them. Besides the controversy from the ethical perspective, our society is becoming so interdependent that using genetic testing can cause controversy in other areas: healthcare eligibility, privacy, and accountability. Yes, there are many benefits and downfalls with genetic testing but so we must decide when it is and when it isn't acceptable to employ such technology.
ReplyDeletePosted by Marshall Moini