Ethical Issues With Genetic Testing
There are certain things in life that you can’t control or prevent but with a simple genetic test you can have answers to many unanswered questions that could be about certain medical issues. Knowing the results could be very scary but at least knowing can be the first to step to taking control of your life. For those that don’t know what is a genetic test, “As scientific and medical discoveries help us better understand how our genetic make up affects our bodies and our health, new tests are also being developed to help individuals know whether their genes align with certain diseases or conditions” (verywell.com). Personally I got to know about a story that inspired me to learn more about genetic testing. The medical ethical issues that come
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along with genetic test. The overall views about genetic testing, the good and the bad.
A co-worker of mine told me her story about her son Jeremiah. She had discovered that she had “x-link mutation”. Which is in her genes. As a woman we each have double XX chromosomes and a male has a XY chromosome, this means that for my co-worker only one of X chromosome is working correctly and the other one isn’t- “One of her X chromosomes has a recessive mutation and the other has a working copy of the gene” (www.genetics.edu.au). She already has a daughter, she doesn’t know if her daughter has the same “x-link mutation”, she also doesn’t know when will be the right time to explain to her daughter about it and if she should get tested- “When this woman has a child, there is a 50% chance that she will pass on a working (R) gene to each of her children and a 50% chance that she will pass on the gene mutation which is not working (r)” (www.genetics.edu.au). When she found out that she was pregnant and found out she was having a boy, she was very excited because she already had a daughter. When she delivered him and noticed that he couldn’t breath on his own, the doctors started to make all sorts of test on him, until they finally did a genetics test on the baby and found out about the “x-link mutation”. After two months of not being able to breath on his own, he passed away. She recently found out she was pregnant and deiced to do a genetic test to see if this child had the same affected chromosome. The result came in and had the same chromosome; she had a mischarge a couple days later after finding out the results. If she were to get pregnant and tested her baby again and it came out positive there is no cure, her baby would just have a 50% of getting affected or a 50% of not getting affected.
There have also been medical ethical issues about genetic testing itself because they believe that it can bring “discrimination” with knowing the results of a genetic test- “Americans feared that the development of genetic tests and the enactment of mandatory testing would decrease individual rights to privacy and lead to discrimination” (www.ncbi.nih.gov).
The other medical ethical issue about genetic testing is to either make it mandatory or not when it comes to newborns. A genetics test on newborns could determine early disorders to help make an early treatment for the baby. They also have genetic tests on embryos, so while they are still inside the mother, the only affect on testing on embryos is the possible of a miscarriage just like my co-workers third pregnancy- “The doctor removes a small piece of the placenta to check for genetic problems in the fetus. Because chorionic villus sampling is an invasive test, there's a small risk that it can induce a miscarriage” (kidshealth.org). Genetic testing does come along with medical ethical issues because people believe it is morally wrong to interrupt with God’s work those that see it wrong believe that there is a reason behind everything even if it has something to with medical
issues.
There are good things that come along with taking a genetic testing but there are also bad things that come along with taking a genetic test. The good things that do come with taking a genetic are getting answers and just being aware and to be prepared- “If you are someone who just wants to know about possibilities so you can make decisions, then you might want to have the testing” (verywell.com). Another positive thing about genetic testing when doctors find out about these results they can use that information to improve treatments for future patients- “learning more about how to use this information to develop treatment to help our children, their children and so forth in the future”(verywell.com). The bad things that come along with genetic testing are the risk that comes with it- “Many of the risks associated with genetic testing involve the emotional, social, or financial consequences of the test results” (ghr.nlm.nih.gov). Even know the results can cause problems between family members, like for example if one person were to take a test and came out positive and the brother and/or sister one as well but came out negative, it could cause tension and jealousy.
Learning about a personal story of someone who had to go through a loss and finding out about a genetic disorder has changed her life and possibly her daughters as well. Genetic testing is judge by medical ethics because those that believe that are meant to be the way they are, should not be played with medicine. The way a genetic test could be done could possibly end a life and that is why people would say a genetic test is morally wrong. At the same time there a good things and bad things that come along with a genetic test, knowing the results could either give you back control of your life, even if it could be morally wrong, or is it could dangerous know the results. Either way taking a genetic test has developed so much through time and the way people see a genetic test now could be different in the future.
along with genetic test. The overall views about genetic testing, the good and the bad.
A co-worker of mine told me her story about her son Jeremiah. She had discovered that she had “x-link mutation”. Which is in her genes. As a woman we each have double XX chromosomes and a male has a XY chromosome, this means that for my co-worker only one of X chromosome is working correctly and the other one isn’t- “One of her X chromosomes has a recessive mutation and the other has a working copy of the gene” (www.genetics.edu.au). She already has a daughter, she doesn’t know if her daughter has the same “x-link mutation”, she also doesn’t know when will be the right time to explain to her daughter about it and if she should get tested- “When this woman has a child, there is a 50% chance that she will pass on a working (R) gene to each of her children and a 50% chance that she will pass on the gene mutation which is not working (r)” (www.genetics.edu.au). When she found out that she was pregnant and found out she was having a boy, she was very excited because she already had a daughter. When she delivered him and noticed that he couldn’t breath on his own, the doctors started to make all sorts of test on him, until they finally did a genetics test on the baby and found out about the “x-link mutation”. After two months of not being able to breath on his own, he passed away. She recently found out she was pregnant and deiced to do a genetic test to see if this child had the same affected chromosome. The result came in and had the same chromosome; she had a mischarge a couple days later after finding out the results. If she were to get pregnant and tested her baby again and it came out positive there is no cure, her baby would just have a 50% of getting affected or a 50% of not getting affected.
There have also been medical ethical issues about genetic testing itself because they believe that it can bring “discrimination” with knowing the results of a genetic test- “Americans feared that the development of genetic tests and the enactment of mandatory testing would decrease individual rights to privacy and lead to discrimination” (www.ncbi.nih.gov).
The other medical ethical issue about genetic testing is to either make it mandatory or not when it comes to newborns. A genetics test on newborns could determine early disorders to help make an early treatment for the baby. They also have genetic tests on embryos, so while they are still inside the mother, the only affect on testing on embryos is the possible of a miscarriage just like my co-workers third pregnancy- “The doctor removes a small piece of the placenta to check for genetic problems in the fetus. Because chorionic villus sampling is an invasive test, there's a small risk that it can induce a miscarriage” (kidshealth.org). Genetic testing does come along with medical ethical issues because people believe it is morally wrong to interrupt with God’s work those that see it wrong believe that there is a reason behind everything even if it has something to with medical
issues.
There are good things that come along with taking a genetic testing but there are also bad things that come along with taking a genetic test. The good things that do come with taking a genetic are getting answers and just being aware and to be prepared- “If you are someone who just wants to know about possibilities so you can make decisions, then you might want to have the testing” (verywell.com). Another positive thing about genetic testing when doctors find out about these results they can use that information to improve treatments for future patients- “learning more about how to use this information to develop treatment to help our children, their children and so forth in the future”(verywell.com). The bad things that come along with genetic testing are the risk that comes with it- “Many of the risks associated with genetic testing involve the emotional, social, or financial consequences of the test results” (ghr.nlm.nih.gov). Even know the results can cause problems between family members, like for example if one person were to take a test and came out positive and the brother and/or sister one as well but came out negative, it could cause tension and jealousy.
Learning about a personal story of someone who had to go through a loss and finding out about a genetic disorder has changed her life and possibly her daughters as well. Genetic testing is judge by medical ethics because those that believe that are meant to be the way they are, should not be played with medicine. The way a genetic test could be done could possibly end a life and that is why people would say a genetic test is morally wrong. At the same time there a good things and bad things that come along with a genetic test, knowing the results could either give you back control of your life, even if it could be morally wrong, or is it could dangerous know the results. Either way taking a genetic test has developed so much through time and the way people see a genetic test now could be different in the future.