Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Chapter 1: Database Systems
Manual patient record system
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Chapter 1: Database Systems
A DNA database or databank is the data storage of DNA profiles. These storages can be used in multiple ways, including the analysis of genetic diseases, fingerprinting, and genealogy. The largest are national databases. The types of databases include Forensic DNA database, Genetic genealogy database, and Medical DNA database. There are national databases found in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and even the United States. The controversy over the databases begins with the people’s concern that their privacy is being abused. With the DNA database, anyone who can access the information of any individual now has access to them and their family. With some databases expanded to include those who have merely been arrested, there are concerns …show more content…
Under the control of the government, it would lead to much advancement. Forgotten crimes would resurface and be solved, and improve overall health of citizens. A DNA databank would prove invaluable in its ability to aid in the apprehending of criminals. Also, locating and identifying disaster victims would prove easier as well. Also assuming that DNA is left at the scene of almost every crime, fighting crime would be easier than ever. A process that would normally take days, weeks, months, maybe even years to solve would now take little to no time. The potential is limitless. The narrowing down of suspects from possible thousands to a smaller group also proves valuable.
Inducing a DNA databank would help diminish or eliminate discrimination, as it would be all-inclusive and steer clear of any majorities or minorities. Gender and racial bias would be practically eliminated. Also, having a larger databank rather than a smaller, less inclusive databank, is less costly. Privacy needn’t be an issue, as one of the main functions of the government is to maintain the privacy of its people. The simple act of collecting genetic information offers no insight into the private lives of any
The more we know about genetics and the building blocks of life the closer we get to being capable of cloning a human. The study of chromosomes and DNA strains has been going on for years. In 1990, the Unites States Government founded the Human Genome Project (HGP). This program was to research and study the estimated 80,000 human genes and determine the sequences of 3 billion DNA molecules. Knowing and being able to examine each sequence could change how humans respond to diseases, viruses, and toxins common to everyday life. With the technology of today the HGP expects to have a blueprint of all human DNA sequences by the spring of 2000. This accomplishment, even though not cloning, presents other new issues for individuals and society. For this reason the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) was brought in to identify and address these issues. They operate to secure the individuals rights to those who contribute DNA samples for studies. The ELSI, being the biggest bioethics program, has to decide on important factors when an individual’s personal DNA is calculated. Such factors would include; who would have access to the information, who controls and protects the information and when to use it? Along with these concerns, the ESLI tries to prepare for the estimated impacts that genetic advances could be responsible for in the near future. The availability of such information is becoming to broad and one needs to be concerned where society is going with it.
One of society’s problems is that the wrong people are convicted of a crime they did not commit. None have more dire consequences on those than who are wrongly convicted of rape and murder. The punishment for these crimes are as harsh as possible to deter the crimes and when wrongly convicted, the wrong person gets punished while the true perpetrator gets away. In order to increase the chance of convicting the true perpetrator of the crime, the tools to find and convict criminals had to be refined. And it was refined due to extensive research into DNA. This research was done by Alec Jeffreys and Vicky Wilson, the research’s technician, and it found that in the massive amount of junk codes, there exists many repetitious codes that have copied so many times that it varies from person to person. (Ridley 132) This means that people can be identified with only their DNA from their hair, fluids, skin, etc. This discovery has led to convictions of rapists and murderers such as the Pickford case that Ridley wrote about. It has also led to the sentences of many wrongly convicted people to be retracted and this had led to the release of about 200 people known as the DNA 200. (Phelan) Now, most of the world keeps criminals’ genotype information in order to identify repeat offenders. In the United States, every state requires that every convicted
With the advent of new computer technologies, the ease with which new information can be discovered from aggregating data sources is astounding. This technique is called computer matching. When it comes to doing research this can be an incredible source of new ideas and correlations between sets of data. However, this same technique can be applied to information about individual people. Suddenly, by pulling together disparate sources of data, private information can be learned about an individual without their knowledge or consent. If the organization that is capable of computer matching is a government, it places a lot of information in the hands of a powerful entity. A question of whether the government should have this new information is a significant one.
In April 2003 this project was successfully completed with a high-quality version of the full human genome available for public view. Advantages: Genomics and the Human Genome Project are having huge positive effects on the economy of many places like China, Germany, France, Spain and many more. The Human Genome Project has brought in over $800 million dollars since 1990 and given about 4 million jobs since 2003, which has enabled millions of people to stay off the streets and support their families.
DNA in forensic science has been around for a long time. DNA has had help in solving almost every crime committed. There have been a lot of crimes where people are raped or murdered and the person who did it runs free. Scientists can collect the littlest item they see at the scene, such as a cigarette butt or coffee cup and check it for DNA. People have spent years in jail for a crime they didn’t commit till DNA testing came into effect. People are getting out of jail after 20 years for a crime they didn’t commit, cause of the DNA testing. DNA has helped medical researchers develop vaccines for disease causing microbe. DNA has become a standard tool of forensics in many murders and rapes.
The genetic technology revolution has proved to be both a blessing and a blight. The Human Genome Project is aimed at mapping and sequencing the entire human genome. DNA chips are loaded with information about human genes. The chip reveals specific information about the individuals’ health and genetic makeup (Richmond & Germov 2009).The technology has been described as a milestone by many in that it facilitates research, screening, and treatment of genetic conditions. However, there have been fears that the technology permits a reduction in privacy when the information is disclosed. Many argue that genetic information can also be used unfairly to discriminate against or stigmatize individuals (Willis 2009).
The United States government is up to its ears in the personal information it has collected from its citizens. Americans are becoming increasingly “aware of these slowly eroding walls of privacy,”(Hirsh) and more than half polled admit concern “about the overall accumulation of personal information about them “by […] law enforcement, government, […] and other groups,” though “they accept it as an unavoidable modern phenomenon” (Hirsh). The question is, how far is too far to trust the government with the collection, proper storage, and usage of this information? Studies show that “Americans believe that business, government, social-media sites, and other groups are accessing their most personal information without their consent” (Hirsh). People should be given the ability to admit or deny access to their personal information. The government does not have a right to use whatever information it wants for any purpose it wishes. Michael Hayden, once the NSA director for seven years, says, “Even I recognize that it's one thing for Google to know too much, because they aren't putting me in jail. It's another thing for government, because they can coerce me” (Hirsh). The United States government's ability to collect information about its citizens and residents should be restricted by what kind of information it can take, how it can acquire it, and what it can use it for.
“The rapid implementation and continuing expansion of forensic DNA databases around the world has been supported by claims about their effectiveness in criminal investigations and challenged by assertions of the resulting intrusiveness into individual privacy” (p545).
It is patients’ right to opt for genetic testing on their own DNA, although they are accepting a great risk by doing so. DNA is unique to each individual, present in each individual since conception, and influences who each individual is, so the information contained within it belongs to each patient, despite the risks. Such risks include DNA testing services providing results to potential employers or insurers, who can make decisions at the disadvantage of the patients if high disease probabilities are discovered. The results can also cause patients to react emotionally poorly and make negative changes to their lifestyles. Although risky, patients deserve the rights to take these risks if they choose to do so.
All humans have some desire for privacy, but people have different boundaries to what information about them should be private. Problems arise with these widely varying definitions. What one person may define as a casual curiosity, another may define as a blatant invasion of privacy. Often, these disagreements find themselves in court rooms, and have been subjects of some of the most controversial court cases ever.
The word “privacy” did not grow up with us throughout history, as it was already a cultural concept by our founding fathers. This term was later solidified in the nineteenth century, when the term “privacy” became a legal lexicon as Louis Brandeis (1890), former Supreme Court justice, wrote in a law review article, that, “privacy was the right to be let alone.” As previously mentioned in the introduction, the Supreme Court is the final authority on all issues between Privacy and Security. We started with the concept of our fore fathers that privacy was an agreed upon concept that became written into our legal vernacular. It is being proven that government access to individual information can intimidate the privacy that is at the very center of the association between the government and the population. The moral in...
Individualized medicine should be strictly used for health preventions, but some fear that people might abuse this information by using it to find potential partners. There isn’t a doubt that the advanced technology won’t change the culture, but will it be in a positive way if people decide to use it to find their “perfect” partner in life? Another reason why many oppose the idea of individualized medicine is because they fear who will control the sequencing information. If they don’t have control of their own data information, will the government? This topic gets discussed heavily because currently individuals aren’t allowed to access their own genetic information, and many wonder if that will change if the new system is implemented in the daily lives of people (Patel, 2015, p.g 1) Also, the amount of genetic information the DNA sequencing would provide would be a vast amount, so the data would need to be stored in a secured place in order to prevent cyber-attacks from occurring.
There are five factors that prevent crime labs from meeting the increased demand for DNA analysis due to a backlog of cases. These factors are as follows: “Knowledge of the potential of DNA evidence to solve cases has grown exponentially among criminal justice practitioners and the general public a like, The number of DNA submissions for property crimes has skyrocketed, and these types of crime are much more commonplace than violent crimes, Advances that make it possible for tiny, trace amounts of DNA samples to be analyzed has led to more requests for DNA testing of guns and steering wheels to determine who may have last handled the object, Older and unsolved cases from the pre-DNA era are being opened and their samples submitted for testing
DNA manipulation is one of the sensational topic that exist in our contemporary society. Manipulating DNA basically means changing the forms or the structure DNA of certain thing to change the traits genetically. Some people believe that manipulating DNA have multiple risks. However, I firmly believe that there are relatively more benefits than dangers, and I am going to inform about those benefits. First, changing DNA could stop the problem of famine.
This can make the process of narrowing down suspects much easier. Databases of citizens’ personal information can also be found. Therefore a person could be found easily when needed for questioning.