The Genetic Testing Controversy Essay

   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

The view over genetic testing starts with establishing necessary definitions and discussing its purpose in our world. To start off, the human body is a complex multicellular system. Every cell in the body is comprised of the same DNA (with some exceptions), which stores our genes. These genes are the set of instructions that encode the proteins necessary to create and maintain the human body. The issue is that some genes can undergo a variety of mutations during development that cause an array of complications or disease. Gene therapy can modify the designated abnormal genes to reach normalcy, while genetic engineering focuses on enhancement and surpassing what is normal. However, the goal of genetic testing is to identify the abnormalities

Another big benefit of testing is the ability to know in advance the health of a baby. It is no longer necessary for parents to be to have to worry about the health of their child. The technology is there to know in advance. Some people have major health problems in their family. This testing could make it possible for them to give birth to healthy long living children. The whole point of prenatal genetic testing is to improve life through good health. There are enough things

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

The benefits of genetic science for society is for employers who want to know if their employers are in excellent working condition and if the worker will cause them more money when obtaining health insurance. If an employer hires someone that that is healthy then the cost of health insurance does not rise and the employee will not have to downgrade their health insurance plan so that they can accommodate the employee that is not healthy. The limitations of genetic science for society are the possibility of genetic testing causing safety issues at work, the development of a genetic low class, the breach of privilege and confidentiality, and the utilization of genetic bias to excuse different methods of discrimination (Krumm, 2002).

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

Genetic testing is normally used to determine if a person is carrying a specific mutated or altered gene which can cause a specific medical condition. JL’s parents would benefit from this because genetic testing would determine how likely it is that JL’s parents are to pass on the same mutated gene to another child. This would also determine if the mutated gene was inherited from the parents of weather or not it was a result of a random mutation.

Probably, applied genetics' most impacts on society are as a result of genetic tests. In general, genetic tests seek to detect some feature of a person's genetic constitution. This feature can be a disease causing mutation or a marker DNA sequence used to detect presence of another gene. Obviously these procedures used for testing the status of DNA, RNA or chromosomes are included in genetic tests. What is more it is possible to include some protein based tests and classical medical examinations when they aim to detect inheritance of a trait. Genetic tests have been divided into four categories in this text, and they will be examined in greater detail later. These categories are:

Initially, the primary purpose of genetic counseling was to provide patients with an understanding of the genetic problems in their family that could be inherited by offspring. However, in the past few decades, goals have shifted to not just informing clients of the possible diseases of their offspring, but also to preventing the possibility of genetic disorders occurring through selective embryo implantation or even abortion.

The distress and the health risk to the mother are concerns when viewed through the lens of the principle of nonmaleficence or of “do no harm”. The accessibility and cost of the prenatal genetic testing are contentious. Although prenatal genetic testing is considered to be a useful tool, some believe it leads us down a “slippery slope”. Controversy exists surrounding prenatal genetic testing for reasons of social, psychological, moral, and religious rationales.

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.

The testing is not a bad idea as such but it should not be done to children. This regards to personal autonomy where it would be better if the testing is delayed until an individual is old enough to make his or her own decision about the test. A person’s genetic information should be private and counselling should be done to elucidate the basis for and consequences of the test in question. Individuals should be allowed to choose when and which

Recent advances in biotechnology have enabled the practice of genetic testing to become more assessable. Genetic testing holds a great number of benefits, such as early diagnosis, or personalized treatment. Although there are some limitations and disadvantages. Genetic testing can only tell someone so much; it doesn’t indicate a definite conclusion as to if a disease will even manifest itself or how bad the symptoms may be. Even with these limitations I believe that the benefits far outweigh these disadvantages.

The topic of genetic testing is laced with controversy. The question at hand is “Does genetic testing provide more advantages or disadvantages?” There are plenty of well-researched and well-articulated arguments on each side of this discussion. During my time researching the topic, I flip-flopped my position multiple times, something that could very well continue to happen as I deepen my understanding of the issue. My current opinion is that despite the many advantages of genetic testing, the disadvantages still outweigh them. I feel this way for a variety of reasons: 1) Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis is eerily similar eugenics; 2) Discrimination may occur as a result of the information provided by genetic testing; 3) Abnormal results may cause depression or anxiety even if that person does not suffer from a particular disease.

Genetic testing is a hot-button issue in today’s society. With more and more parents able