Cracking Your Genetic Code: A Review of Genetic Testing

Genetic testing is used to determine the risk of a patient or patient’s offspring developing genetic diseases. This is done with DNA sequencing in adults and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PDG) on embryos. These methods of genetic testing are effective means of determining the likelihood of developing diseases such as Huntington’s disease, a disease resulting from trinucleotide repeat on chromosome 4p16.3 that causes uncontrollable muscle movement and decrease in cognitive function. However, they only determine probability, which isn’t an entirely reliable means of knowing whether or not symptoms will arise.

As you can see genetic testing is very important and can affect a child's and parents lives for the better and the worst. Children all over the world have serious genetic diseases that affect their life on a daily. Some of these diseases are Achondroplasia, Down syndrome, and Turner's syndrome. Many believe genetic testing is a good way to test for these genetic conditions before the child is even born, but others think that it can harm the baby very badly and even cause a miscarriage, so they choose not to do this kind of testing. Knowing about the most serious genetic diseases is very important for expecting parents to be informed as well as being

Genetic testing identifies changes in ones genes and chromosomes. These changes often lead to diagnoses of conditions, disorders, or diseases. Through testing, “one can confirm or rule out a suspected genetic condition or help determine a person’s chance of developing or

Genetics has become a very important topic of discussion in the healthcare field. There are more and more diseases being linked to certain genes in the DNA. Carrier: Untangling the danger in my DNA, by Bonnie J. Rough, is one example of the modern problems people have to deal with in regards to genetics and genetic testing. The author writes about the problems she faced. She had some very difficult decisions about her possible offspring as well as herself. Rough writes about her struggle with deciding if she should get a genetic test for a gene that causes a disease that has been passed on through her families for generations. The reader also learns about her and her husband’s experience of getting pregnant and the steps they took to try

Genetic testing has become a highly controversial issue among both the general population and the scientific community. It is a process that exposes a person’s entire genome sequence, allowing it to be read and evaluated to identify potential risks for genetic diseases or diseases that could be passed onto offspring (Holt Productions, 2012). With thousands of genetic tests already being used, and more being established, it seems logical to put this growing technology to use. Some agree that it is a person’s right to know and understand his or her genetic makeup. However, others argue that, despite the benefits of genetic testing, caution should be used to carefully inspect the risks associated with this new technology.

According to Chrystoja and Diamandis (2013), targeted genome testing is less costly than some traditional testing methods, is effective in assisting decision making for certain neoplastic medications and is useful in guiding the proper testing for certain diseases such as Lynch Syndrome. In addition, genetic makeup determines the pharmacokinetics of certain drugs and genome testing may assist in medication therapies. Studies indicate that genetic predisposition determines the effectiveness of 20% to 95% of prescribed medications (Bartlett, 2011). With DNA information, a physician can prescribe a tailored medication treatment that will benefit the

These results may also help doctors make recommendations for treatment or monitoring, and give people more information for making decisions about their and their family's health, allowing them to take steps to lower his/her chance of developing a disease. For example, as the result of such a finding, someone could be screened earlier and more frequently for the disease and/or could make changes to health habits like diet and exercise. Such a genetic test result can lower a person's feelings of uncertainty, and this information can also help people to make informed choices about their future, such as whether to have a baby or

However, healthy people tend to not take the same risks as people who are in desperate need of the product being tested. The only biomedical testing as of now, that should not be restricted from people is DNA Microarrays. According to DNA Microarrays: a Powerful Genomic Tool for Biomedical and Clinical Research, the microarrays can detect diseases and other deformities. "Microarray technologies are now used for comparing other genome features, among individuals and their tissues and cells," (DNA Microarrays) This current use could be used to find new diseases that should not be present. This would allow scientists to compare a sick person with a healthy person, and find exactly what is wrong. What determines a healthy person would need to be debated and figured out. Scientists plan on using this technology to quickly diagnose a disease and implement therapeutic interventions. Scientist, by using various regression models such as the Kaplan-Meier model (Figure 5), have been figuring out gene selection

Genetic testing is the testing of human DNA which determines various genetic differences and anomalies. With the help of various genetic testing, physicians are now able to look at a person’s DNA for any genetic abnormalities. There are many different types of genetic testing out there such as newborn screening, carrier testing, prenatal testing, diagnostic testing, predictive and pre-symptomatic genetic tests, pharmacogenomics testing and many more. (FAQ about genetic testing, 2015).

genetic testing, everything has changed. She notes that clinicians now have the ability to diagnose, treat, and monitor a patient’s illnesses or disease progression in an entirely different manner. This is a far cry from the old medical model of responding to a disease (or defect) only after it appears, and then prescribing the recommended medication or intervention. These genetic medical advances sound miraculous and promising, but the ability to test, screen and provide early intervention does not come without many major ethical dilemmas.

Genetic testing is the analysis of human DNA, RNA, chromosomes, or proteins used to detect abnormalities related to an inherited disorder, to identify increased risks of health problems, and to assess responses or choose treatments. A person may be offered testing if they have a family history of a specific disease, have symptoms of a genetic disorder, or are worried about passing down a genetic disorder to their children. More than 1,000 genetic tests are currently in use, and many more are being developed. Depending on the type of genetic testing, they can help to diagnose disease, identify gene changes that are responsible for an already diagnosed disease, to determine the severity of a disease, to help doctors decide the best treatment to be used on a specific individual, to identify gene changes increasing the risk to develop a disease, to identify gene changes that could possibly be passed on to a child, and screen newborn babies for certain treatable conditions. They are also used for screening embryos for disease and finding genetic diseases in unborn babies.

The subject matter of genetic testing was at the most extreme in this particular motion picture. I have known for quite some time that these undertakings could be achieved with the knowledge and scientific discoveries that we have today, however, it made me feel distraught that the world could possibly one day come to that. It was so aesthetic and some would say monotonous. What is really disheartening is that like Ethan’s character, who was so intelligent, trained his body to be strong, and had so much to give this world, he could have been deprived of living out his dream simply due to not being picture-perfect. I can recognize performing genetic testing is a necessity if there is suspected illness or disease. By all means test me or any

Genetic Testing is the process of using medical and forensic tests to identify and analyse a human, animal or plant DNA sequence. It can reveal changes or mutations in your genes that may result in illness and disease.

Initially, genomic testing was offered to a patient for diagnostic purposes- for those who had some types of characteristics suggestive of specific genetic susceptibility or for predictive purposes for those individuals

What is human genetic screening? It is the process of analyzing blood or skin to search for people with a certain genotype in a population. It is also an important tool of preventive medicine and it has huge potential to lessen the death average of cancer and other diseases of that caliber. The purpose is to help families that are at high risk for genetic diseases. The human race carries 3,000 to 4,000 diseases just in its genes. The one faulty gene will be hard to find because there are 200,000 healthy genes in one person. So in order to find these elusive variations scientist must look for larger pieces of Deoxyribonucleic acid called markers. A marker is a Deoxyribonucleic acid sequence with a known location on a chromosome. Scientists search for faulty markers so it now becomes theoretical to screen individuals from infants to adults. Markers have been found for a number of diseases such as