The Promise and Perils of Genetic Technologies

Just as genetic testing could be used by employers to spot genetic deficiencies in potential employees, it can also be used by insurance companies to screen clients to see if they are genetically prone to specific diseases. The use of such tests is already a reality for life insurance companies, which have been given access to genetic test results that indicate whether or not the policy recipient has the genes for Huntington’s disease. Huntington’s disease is of particular interest to life insurance companies because it causes the premature death of those who develop this genetic disease. Furthermore, the implementation of the greater use of generic testing could have a significant impact on how insurance operates as a whole.

Premiums would continue to rise in what market experts call a “death spiral”, as healthy people dropped their insurance. In the end, only the least healthy individuals would remain in the pool; they would pay astronomical premiums, but insurance companies’ profits would disappear. If genetic information is shared, insurers will also face eventual problems. As the human genome is gradually unlocked, they will garner fewer policy-holders and lower profits.

Genetic testing can not only be used as a diagnostic tool, but it also has potential in the area of curative medicine. In fact the use of genetic testing medicinally may become, “as routine as blood pressure and temperature checks”. Currently it is impossible to know for certain if a person will respond positively to a certain drug therapy, because many illnesses can be caused by a variety of different genetic factors, while showing the same symptoms externally. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (Variation in the individual population). Silicone gene chips compare tiny fragments of DNA examples from an individual being tested. It will link and line up revealing the letters on a certain spot. Then it will be compared with snps certain diseases. So how can doctors be certain which drugs