Genetic Screening: An Ethical Case Study

Genetic testing has brought about many changes in the way many couples look at conceiving and raising families. Through genetic testing you are able to screen for the increased chance that a fetus may have one of many congenital disorders, or even identify gene changes that are responsible for a disease that has already been diagnosed (Genetic Testing, March 2015). Unfortunately genetic testing is not always exact, in some cases giving parents false negatives or false positive results. Even if the results are accurate, there is the burden of knowledge once you know the results indicate a genetic abnormality such as Down’s syndrome. While caring for a 2 year old male patient with developmental delays and anotia, I learned that genetic testing had been started but never completed on the child. Genetic testing could help to identify genetic disorders that led to the child’s developmental delays and possible future disorders that may develop. The ethical dilemma I will be discussing to the ANA Ethical dilemma of the impact of informed consent of genetic testing on children for adult onset diseases and disorders.

As time goes on civilizations find innovations to make living a little bit easier. However, new frontiers often bring struggles. In Flackelmann’s articles on “ The Ethics of DNA Testing” four situations are given and later followed by a comprehensive analysis by both the public and by experts in ethics, law, genetics and any other various fields that correlate with the cases’ scenarios. The first scenario (titled “ A Case of Dwarfism”) describes the story of a couple who are carrying the gene for achondroplasia, meaning they both are dwarfs. The counselor tells the parents that through genetic testing they can find out whether or not the child will have dwarfism as well. The couple has made 3 decisions; the first being that if the child has

What level of prenatal genetic testing for abnormalities acts with beneficence to the patient, and what level of trait selection is ethical?

Genetic screenings for newborns are mandated genetic tests that are performed on all babies after birth. Genetic screenings are used to determine the potential for illness, disease, or conditions that could be passed on, by one or both parents. The test performed can be found on the website http://www.wadsworth.org/newborn-screening/screened-disorders, but include a list of over forty current mandatory genetic screenings. Genetic screening is done to protect newborns from conditions, diseases, or illnesses, that otherwise appear normal and may not be visible at birth, but through the mandatory screenings, abnormalities to genetic disorders can be detected, so risks can be reduce, decision, interventions and treatments can be made, that might

There’s over 13,000 people in Australia that have down syndrome in our modern day. The quality of life for people that have down syndrome can be drastically improved by meeting special health care needs. People with Down Syndrome can achieve their optimal quality of life through parental care and government support, medical guidance and community support systems like inclusive education at all levels. Genetic testing is a medical test that identifies changes in chromosomes and genes. In this article I will be telling you why genetic screening is very important if you are wanting to know if your child has down syndrome. Over this article I will also mention genetic counselling, genetic counselling is a communication process which helps families,

Genetic Testing carries a particular set of ethical, legal, or social implications, depending on the reasoning behind the testing. For example is the test for medical purposes, diagnostic, or predictive with a treatment? Or is the testing done for personal decision-making reasons? That is, predictive without a treatment, carrier, or prenatal? In any circumstance, privacy and confidentiality are critical because the genetic results are directly related to an individual’s identity. Not only is confidentiality an issue for health care, but to prevent genetic discrimination in insurance coverage and employment, as well. Information from a genetic test can affect an entire family. If the disorder is either genetically dominant or carried by an individual,

In today’s modern age science is moving at a rapid pace; one of those scientific fields that has taken the largest leaps is that of genetics. When genetics first comes to mind, many of us think of it as a type of science fiction, or a mystical dream. Yet genetics is here, it is real, and has numerous ethical implications.

For this reason PGD is mostly used when the parents carry genes for genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia. The first “designer babies” PGD babies were created in 1989 and born in 1990. The two families were at risk of passing a severe form of mental retardation. Since that gene was only found in males PGD was used to make sure the couples each had a girl healthy normal baby girls. One of the first cases of PGD being used for gender selection was when Monique and Scott Collins visited Genetics & IVF Institute in Fairfax, Virginia in 1996 wanting a daughter as their first two children were boys. Their decision to choose the sex of their child opened another world of issues regarding the selection of traits like hair and eye color, height and other aspects not usually related to the health of the baby (Ly, Sarah “Ethics of Designer Babies”) Society questions under what conditions should PGD be used and what impact will it have on the gene pool and the way we view our offspring. In 1994 a statement was released by the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs supporting genetic selection as a means to cure, prevent or specify diseases but selection of benign characteristics was unethical. (Ly, Sarah; Ethics of Designer Babies). In the near future with the advancement of biotechnology and genome modification will be possible to with TALENs used technology and the discovery of the CRISPR genomes and Cas9 (Sample, Ian. "GM

According to Kenneth Pakenham, Jo McEntire, and Jessica Williams (2013), in “Making Connections” Gene therapy and genetic tests are long experiment by scientists to find out specific genes are related to fatal diseases and birth defects. Many severe diseases depend on the gene type. When genes are known genetic tests for many genes will be available. Despite several challenges for gene therapy, genes treatment is possible identifying their defective genes tests.

Genetic testing is a relatively new and rapidly emerging field. Even though this science was seen as controversial, genetic testing has been going on for conditions such as phenylketonuria and sickle cell disease for years.

   When we contemplate manipulation of the human genome, we tend to frame the debate in terms of the potential consequences for our children, or our children's children. These are the individuals whose lives, and whose genes, are most likely to be effected by the rapidly advancing field of human genetics. Thus, while generations have always been conscious about the external environment bequeathed to their children, we of this generation may have to consider the additional question of what will we leave inside our children. As parents, do we have the responsibility or the right to screen against or select for certain genetically determined traits in our children? Here, I argue that

With the advances made in genetic testing and the lowering cost of testing, conversations surrounding the ethical considerations of genetic screening in newborns as well as adults is becoming more and more commonplace. One such commentary is made by Pollack (2010) in his article on genetic screening in newborns, who cautions against both the monetary and emotional cost of genetic screening. The following paragraphs will offer a summary of Pollack’s (2010) article, as well as a critique of the article in which this author will agree that genetic testing comes at potentially great cost and should be carefully considered.

Genetic research has furthered our understanding of the human genetic makeup and has created the potential to transform medicine. This potential is not just limited to medicine, but the potential to further research and monetize the human genetic makeup. Through gene patenting, the monetization of genetic material can provide for a financial incentive for researchers and institutions to further innovation. The developments in the ability to patent genes and the laws surrounding gene patents has raised concerns of the ethical and medical issues as highlighted in authors, Michael Crichton’s article “Patenting Life” and John E. Calfee’s article “Decoding The Use of Gene Patents.” Both authors (1) share similar views on the ethical concerns and research results. (2) Calfee differs by explaining further that

I agree that although nutritional genomics seems promising and could have significant positive impact on today’s health care there are a lot of ethical, social, and legal issues that impede progress. I concur that information derived from nutritional genomics should be treated the same way as other health related information. I don’t think medical information should be disclosed to any third parties without the patient’s consent. The good thing is the government is already aware of the possible discriminatory risks resulting from these studies and they have taken action towards resolving it. According to Jones, (2013) “The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, Public Law 110-233, 122 STAT. 881, prohibits discrimination based on an individual’s genetic information in both the health coverage and employment contexts” (para. 2). This means there is legal protection against the misuse of genetic information. Although this is not a complete solution to all the issues, it is a step forward. Reilly and Debusk (2008) stated that nutritional genomics is still in its infancy state. Researchers, lawmakers, and health care professionals still have the opportunity to resolve these issues and make policies that will help in the implementation of this science.

As the effects of genes on human physiology and disease are increasingly being examined in laboratories and clinics across the world, the discussion surrounding informing the family members of tested patients needs to be explored. Previous research has discovered that certain genetic mutations can predict with a high degree of accuracy the rate of occurrence of disease not only in the tested participant but in the family as a whole. One such genetic mutation is a change in the Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) gene and a corresponding increase in the rate of occurrence of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP). Researchers need to address the question of whether or not to inform the family members of a participant if one of these genes is discovered. In this paper, we discuss whether the researchers have the ethical responsibility to inform the family of a tested participant’s APC status and the implications that will