1. The most interesting part of Time was the sentence stating, “a majority of doctors in a recent survey predicted that more testing will trigger higher costs…” This was fascinating to me because this sentence contrasts with Dr. Armstrong’s passage that claimed genomics will work towards reducing costs and improvement of patient outcome. It truly showed the divide in mindset amongst professionals.
2. After reading the two opinion pieces I found myself agreeing more with Gail Javitt’s proposal. This is due to the fact there is variation of risk amongst the tests. Rather than removing DTC completely, I think it would be fair to assess what should be sold over the counter like a pregnancy test and what should be only attainable through one’s healthcare
== == == == Genetic screening has no doubt have been the one of the most controversial issue in the branch of medicine.
In Rebecca Skloot’s article, she discusses the way people feel towards getting tested and worked on, when they hear that someone else might be making money off those scraps, or using them to uncover potentially damaging information about their genes and medical histories,” the people become infuriated (Skloot 2).
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
Basically the article claims that everyone is impacted by genetic testing, either positively or negatively. There are many potential benefits which can arise as a result of genetic testing such as individuals that are identified as carrying potentially harmful genetic alterations can receive regular
It is patients’ right to opt for genetic testing on their own DNA, although they are accepting a great risk by doing so.
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
Throwing the papers to the floor, I grew increasingly frustrated at the painfully slow process which consumed so much time and energy without yielding any information. Every hour we wasted waiting for the results, the virus killed another 10,000 people globally. I can’t help but resent the folly of the scientists of the Gilded Age who believed that genetic processors weren’t worth pursuing,
When scientists are going to identify the type of cancer they need to do a genetic screening. Genetic screening is the process of going through the patient's genome to find the type of cancer. This reveals everything about the patient including other types of diseases they might have. People might feel that this lets the scientists know too much about the patient. The flaw with their totally legit argument is that before someone gets their genome sequenced, they must sign a waiver which gives the scientists consent and makes sure the patient understands what is happening.
The kindle edition of The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation, written by Alondra Nelson, is an engaging book that takes us through the timeline of genetic testing, and how it is being used and applied in society. Nelson rights about the importance of DNA and how genetic testing has helped us understand the simple social and political conflicts that can affect the future. The book depicts DNA as a powerful tool and I think The information it the book is crucial to understanding the different aspects of genetic testing. Although Nelson's view on genetic testing is not the science behind the topic, it is a fascinating angle on it through a world view.
If the genetic information is only accessible to the individual then there is a decreased chance of such discrimination occurring because the information is disclosed to who the individual wishes to. Genetic information can raise questions about personal responsibility, personal choice versus genetic determinism, and concepts of health and disease. Personal factors, family values, and community and cultural beliefs can mould the reactions to these issues. For example the response to the genetic information and suggestion from physicians after the test will be drastically different in a society where traditions and religion determine life choices, such as India, than to a more individually liberal society like the USA. Even in a progressive society that has had specific ethnic groups for multiple generations disparities with medical technology are common. A study conducted, using the national representative data, in the USA with the sample that consisted of 1724 men and women of non-Hispanic whites, Latinos, and African American background. Results exposed significant differences by racial/ethnic groups in knowledge and concerns about the potential misuse of genetic testing. Significantly higher levels of mistrust in a physician and the medical system was a common thread within minorities. The genetic tests can be a way of ridding anxiety attached to the assumed inheritance of genetic disease due to family background whilst for others the genetic test reveals their reality. The results can have a great deal of a psychological impact upon the individual. The possibility of developing a genetic disease alone can create anxiety within some. The psychological impact from the results revealed is another issue that society is concerned about. A
A lot of people in the United Sates are unwilling to participate in studies or undertake any genetic screening that may expose them to discrimination grounded on their genetics. That has patients from volunteering to take part in research
Through my research experiences at the NIH, I have enjoyed developing research questions within a specific topic. Thus, I can imagine myself working in a pediatric clinic where I am afforded the opportunity to develop expertise within one area of the field. As genomic technologies continue to enter the clinical and private sectors at a rapid pace, genetic counselors will need to stay on the cutting edge of evidence-based research to inform how patients perceive results and what they will do with them in the presence or lack of information. From working on a research project this past year investigating attitudes towards and intentions to receive exome results in our ClinSeq cohort, I have become interested in themes of perceived versus medical utility amongst the variety of results that are possible with exome
The National Institute of Health (NIH), in coordination with President Obama, has set out in 2015 to tackle these very challenges with their “Precision Medicine Plan”, where the NIH is seeking over one million volunteers to provide health related data for “genetic factors... also the role of environmental exposures and their impact on genetic predispositions”, among other goals. (Steenhuysen, 2015) This project in the growing field of precision medicine is now feasible with the recent developments in the field of both data quality and analysis coupled with leaps in computing power that can back it up. (Warshaw, 2015) The NIH plan, while
As a more cost-effective practice, clinicians make use of a person’s family history, instead of genetic testing, to
2. Is it right to use genetic screening as a tool to keep tabs on their prospective enrollees?