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Pros and cons of genetic testing ethics
Pros and cons of genetic testing ethics
Arguments for and against having genetic testing
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Prenatal Diagnostic Testing is when a pregnant woman has genetic testing done within her first three months of pregnancy. Prenatal testing helps to see if your baby has an infectious or sexually transmitted disease, or a problem that is preexisting making the women have a high-risk pregnancy . (Prenatal diagnosis) This genetic testing was prevented to help women see if her child has a genetic disorder, like down syndrome. This testing is done in three stages which are blood testing, a special kind of ultrasound, and a cell-free DNA screening. A cell-free DNA screening is a newly found testing that is testing it see if your fetus is missing a chromosome, causing it to have one of the many disorders the baby could have. Genetic testing has potential benefits whether the results are positive or negative for a gene mutation. Test results can provide a sense of relief from uncertainty and help people make informed decisions about managing their health care. (What) Being able to see the genetic disorder that you baby may have while still in the womb, is really awesome how you don’t have to deliver the baby to see of they have a disorder. Even though you can find this out before the baby is born and it can be pretty scary you still have a higher chance that the baby …show more content…
If you have a condition that life insurance place may not cover you because you have had the test and it shows if you have a problem because in come cases/disorders they don’t show up until later on in life, like Huntington Disease. HD occurs when you’re in your 40’s and it will kill you pretty fast. Some people don’t want to get the testing done because they don’t want to worry about if their child has a disorder right now while they are in the womb. They don’t want to know it there child is going to die in their 40’s or that they won’t long after they are
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.
Advantages of genetic testing may be helpful in determining whether or not you have a disease or are proba...
The history of harmful eugenic practices, spurring from the Nazi implementations of discrimination towards biologically inferior people has given eugenics a negative stigma (1,Kitcher, 190). Genetic testing, as Kitcher sees it through a minimalistic perspective, should be restrained to aiding future children with extremely low qualities of life (2,Kitcher, 190). He believes that genetic engineering should only be used to avoid disease and illness serving the role of creating a healthier human race. He promotes laissez-faire eugenics, a “hands off” concept that corresponds to three components of eugenic practice, discrimination, coercion and division of traits. It holds the underlying works of genetic testing, accurate information, open access, and freedom of choice. Laissez-faire eugenics promises to enhance reproductive freedom preventing early child death due to genetic disease (3,Kitcher, 198). However there are dangers in Laissez-faire that Kitcher wants to avoid. The first is the historical tendency of population control, eugenics can go from avoiding suffering, to catering to a set of social values that will cause the practice of genetics to become prejudiced, insensitive and superficial. The second is that prenatal testing will become limited to the upper class, leaving the lower class with fewer options, creating biologically driven social barriers. Furthermore the decay of disability support systems due to prenatal testing can lead to an increased pressure to eliminate those unfit for society (4,Kitcher, 214).
The healthcare industry has come a long way in terms of technological advances. These advances have had significant benefits in diagnosis, treatment, and the way medicine is practiced today. Unfortunately, these technological advances also come with ethical issues and dilemmas the healthcare professionals must face.
When it comes to genetic diseases and conditions, testing can be very helpful and serve a good purpose. People with diseases that are inheritable to their children are encouraged to be tested. For example, in the article about Jewish testing, it says
First, let's consider the situations in which genetic testing would be beneficial to patients. Genetic testing for diseases that are preventable or treatable could allow individuals to alter their lifestyles so as to treat the disease or reduce their risk of developing the disease. For instance, the E2 version of the APOE gene, which is found on chromosome 19, has been linked to heart disease (Ridley, 1999). Individuals who have two copies of the E2 gene are particularly sensitive to high-fat and high-cholesterol diets. Therefore, a genetic test to determine whether a person has the high-risk version of the APOE gene could inform a person of future health risks, thereby allowing the person to change his diet to help prev...
For couples with previous knowledge of genetic disorders in their family and concerned parents, prenatal genetic testing is part of the regular pregnancy checkup. Making an appointment with a genetic counselor may seem strange or even frightening for some, still others view it a very common step being taken by many Americans today.
The stress of genetic testing results, that may shorten your life or have no cure, will disrupt an individual physically and emotionally. Healthy people who carry the burden of having a life-threatening disease lack strong social support and coping skills. “The anxiety of living with the likelihood of one or more specific, chronic, debilitating disease create psychological burdens that outweigh the therapeutic potential of lifestyle changes or earlier treatment due to increased vigilance” (Kjono). Survivors guilt, or a mental condition experienced by those who have survived a catastrophic event that took the life of others’. For example, a brother or a sister who carry a gene alteration, like cancer, and one sibling has an increased potential for diagnosis, the other sibling will feel guilty for escaping the increased risk. Not only can a negative genetic testing result affect your well-being, but also your ability to obtain health and life insurance. “Genetic testing may permit a much more complete and refine...
second, prenatal testing, is a testing of a fetus at risk for the disease. The
...to get his entire genome mapped out and was prescribed a medicine that help him to live fifteen more months. The risk of genetic testing is the patient finds out when they are going to die and it is nothing that he or she can do. Taking into account a person who finds out that they will have pancreatic cancer, most of the time people with pancreatic cancer die.
The goal of genetic screening is to provide information for parents who have a high risk of having a child with a disability. These parents make decisions on issues, which include the management of genetic illnesses, conditions and procedures for conception and pregnancy termination. Genetic screening in terms of discovering that a woman is carrying a baby with a disability and the women has an option of carrying the pregnancy to term or terminating it, would bring up the issue of abortion. However, the issue is not terminating a pregnancy, the issue is, should these types of information be given to parents knowing that there is good chance the end result would be to have an abortion. Some might say genetic screening is unethical because it is predicting that a fetus is carrying a disability gene and because of this gene this fetus should not have the right to live. This is the same as saying handicapped people should have never been born, some might say. On the other hand genetic screening will not only provide us with genetic knowledge of a fetus before it is born but it will also tell us whether the fetus will be able to have a well functioned life.
Prenatal genetic screening in particular is a polarizing topic of discussion, more specifically, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). PGD is one of the two techniques commonly used to genetically screen embryos in vitro; it is usually done at the eight-cell stage of division. PGD is most often performed when there is the risk that one or both parents carry disease-causing mutations. It is extensively used by high-risk individuals trying to conceive babes who will be free of particular mutations. PGD can test for over 50 genetic conditions and even allows for sex selection if there are underlying gender-associated medical conditions. When the results are satisfactory, the selected embryo is implanted into the mother’s uterus. While a controversial technique, preimplantation genetic diagnosis is one example of some of the good genetic testing can do, more benefits will be furthe...
Research Proposal: Should People be tested before having Kids? Children are a necessity to continuing legacies, and as such, they are vital to society. However, it would not be the best option for some people to carry on their genes, as they are unfit as both future parents and people. This is why I propose a test for both physical, mental, and emotional stability of a person before having children as my paper topic.
(2) Even people that don 't have any disease could be more prepare, and prevent it from developing in the future by being more aware thanks to the genetic test provided. Genetic screening is another valuable technology that could help a parent keep track of their baby 's health by examining their chromosomes. Genetic testing and screening could impact the life all patients in a positive way, therefore the opposing side should be grateful, and take advantage of this opportunities provided. For example, a person goes to genetically test themselves in a clinic, and they come to find out that they could potentially develop heart problems in the future. Now they can be more aware, and prepared. They could in many different ways like changing their diet or exercising more so they could better protect their heart, and decrease the chances of having the heart problems, like they where presented in the genetic test. What if the person didn 't know they had a chance to have problems? and start eating unhealthy foods that could likely speed up their changes of developing a heart disease. My point is that the same thing goes to those parent who want to get a update of their unborn child 's health. Many healthy mother don 't really expect that their pregnancy will bring some implications, but in
Newborn screening is the practice in which the harmful or potentially fatal conditions that can affect the infant's health or survival are detected. This process can prevent death or health problems and protect the infant against certain diseases and medical conditions. Newborn screening started in 1960's when many states in U.S.A. established a newborn test program for phenylketonuria (PKU) by using the Guthrie method, a system for the collection and transportation of blood samples on filter paper. Many Infants showed developments while receiving treatment. This success led to the addition of tests for other metabolic diseases. Over time, tests were added for endocrine disorders and now newborn screening program include more than 50 individual conditions.