Your genes your choices

8/14/2019 Your genes your choices

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Your Genes,Your

Choices: by Catherine

Baker Exploring the

Issues Raised by Genetic Research



New Genetics: One way to explore the topic of new

genetics and genetic research is tolook at it in terms of the ethical,legal, and social issues.

Ethical issues concern what is moralor right.

Legal issues concern theprotections that laws or regulationsshould provide.

Social issues concern how society as



Genetic Testing In the past few years researchers

have increased their knowledge totest for hundreds of geneticdisorders

More new tests are established allthe time

Tests are helpful for diagnosingdisorders in the young and adults

Tests are also useful in predicting

chances for an individual to come



Continue... They are also used by couples who

want to learn their risk of passing ongenetic disorders to any childrenthey may have.

Prenatal tests are done before birthto an embryo or foetus, to check for

genetic problems Test results can be definite but in

other cases they only suggest the

risk for developing a disorder.



Continue... One way of testing is to do a

medical exam

A person’s family history is studiedusing for example, pedigree, forclues as to how the disorder hasbeen passed down from generation

to generation. A blood sample can be obtained in

order to look at a person’s

chromosomes.



Concerns About

Genetic Testing

Great progress is been made ingenetic testing but it is slower in thetreatment of genetic disorders

Tests are available to give resultsbut treatment is lacking e.g..Huntington Disease



Genetic

Counselling: It is a medical speciality that helps

parents and prospective parentsevaluate and cope with their risk of passing a hereditary disorder to their

children It is important for anyone wanting to

obtain information about their genes



Continue... With counselling from professional

advisors, people can understand thefacts of their situation

Counsellors can help inunderstanding the limitations of thetests and how different test results

might affect them Counsellors can explain to people

what their choices are after they

know the results



Continue... Genetic counselling is a new field

and there’s a small number of trained genetic counsellors

New tests are coming out fasterthan new counsellors are beentrained



Genetic

Determinism: Genes have something, but not

everything, to do with disorders Misunderstanding that genes by

themselves determine what happens

to you is called geneticdeterminism

It can lead people to harmful and

unfair judgements about themselvesand others



Dealing with

Genetic

Knowledge Decisions we make on how to live

our lives will be influenced by

information we have about our genes Knowing one’s genetic profile is

helpful:

Suggests what health-related



Continue... Tips you off to have frequent

checkups for genetic conditions

Helps to plan life by avoidingbehaviours and substances thattrigger disease

Knowing one’s genetic profile cancreate problems:

Everyone has a number of problemgenes that they don’t know about

until a health problem surfaces



Continue... A piece of paper listing “problem”

genes could give a lot to worry about

People tend to limit their choicebased on fears

People may choose not to marry orbuild a career because of their“problem” gene or genetic profile



A Big Question! ! !

Whether children should be toldinformation about the genes theycarry or, if so, at what age theyshould be told

It is difficult for children tounderstand facts about genetics

such as the difference between arisk and a sure thing

There’s a possibility of

misunderstanding what they are told



Discrimination

Based on Genes

Information about “problem” genescan bring extra trouble e.g. Cost of health insurance

People with “problem” genes havebeen denied health insurance ordropped from their health plans.

Medical expanses are not covered

due to genetic conditions



Continue... People have been told that their

children will not be covered becausethey are at risk for inheriting geneticdisease

Number of such cases may increaseas genetic testing becomes more

common Some people are concern that

employers may use genetic

information to weed out workers who



Continue... The fear of being discriminated

against may lead people to refusegenetic testing even when it couldhelp diagnose, prevent or treat ahealth problem

They may be too afraid that the

information will be used againstthem; If that happens, then all thebenefits of genetic research could

come to nothing.



Genes and

Behaviour

The study of whether and how traitsfor behaviour are inherited is calledbehavioural genetics

Scientists have long tried to figure

out whether behaviour is shaped byour genes or by how we are raised. Itis called the question of “nature

versus nurture”



Continue...

Scientists agree that both genes(nature) and environment (nurture)

help make us who we are What no one knows is just how

nature and nurture work together

Researchers believe that genesshape our inborn frame of mind ortemperament



Prenatal Tests:

TypesI. Alpha-fetoprotein test (AFP)

A sample of the mother’s blood istaken to measure the amount of aspecial protein produced by thefoetus

Too much or too little of the proteinindicates that the genes may not beworking right

Therefore, the brain or spine of the



Continue...1. Enzymes

Foetal cells are checked for

presence of important enzymes Some diseases are caused when

the gene that gives the instructionsfor producing an enzyme doesn’t

work

If the production of the enzymeceases, an important body function

stops and this results into a disease



Continue...3. Ultrasound imaging

Ultrasound uses sound waves to

create an image of the baby insidethe mother

4. Amniocentesis (called “amnio” forshort) and chorionic villus

sampling (CVS)

These are tests that check fordefects in the chromosomes

Cells surrounding the foetus are



Continue... A special technique is used to

rearrange the chromosomes intopairs.

The picture that is created is called akaryotype which makes it easy tosee if any chromosomes are missing

or broken, or if there are any extrachromosomes



Reproductive

Technology Advances in prenatal testing have

come hand in hand with advances inmedically assisted ways of makingbabies; reproductive technology

Is often used to help people whohave problems conceiving children

Also is used to help people reduce

their risk of having babies with



Continue… Types:

2. Artificial Insemination

3. In vitro fertilization4. Ex utero genetic testing



DNA Typing: First introduced in the early 1980s

Turns DNA sample into a set of lines

The lines of one DNA sample can becompared to the lines of anothersample to see if they are alike

A match between two samples canbe made only if entire DNAsequences are compared

Hair, blood, saliva, semen, skin, and

nail clippings, because they all are



Uses For DNA

Typing: For identifying bodies; because DNA

lasts longer

To tell whether two people comefrom the same family

Gender identification and otherphysical characteristics



Continue… To prove innocence

To prove guilt

To identify relatives To prove fatherhood

To identify bodies

To identify soldiers To uncover history

To study human evolution



Issues of

Privacy Computers can store informationfrom millions of DNA samples

They can rapidly search through all

of this information to find matches Searching is done in the DNA data

bank where the samples are stored

Every time the police search theircomputer to find a match for someDNA evidence found at some crimescene, they are checking someone’s

DNA without permission



Continue… Owners of DNA samples are being

made permanent suspects, whichmeans that their privacy is invaded

Privacy is the “right to be left alone”or “the right to decide for yourself what information others can know

about you.” Also is the right to decide what

information you learn about yourself



Controls on DNA

Files: DNA information could end up in other

types of data banks Personal and medical information is

released in most cases such as, applyingfor a job, life or health insurance, credit,

financial aid, or government benefits If the results of any DNA tests become

part of your records, you may have torelease the information in order to obtain

needed services.



Continue… There are no laws concerning DNA

data banks No law which says that a blood

sample collected for one kind of DNAtesting can’t be used for anotherpurpose

No law that limits data bankemployees from snooping in yourfiles

No law that gives you the right to

check your DNA file to find out what



Eugenics: The word "eugenics" was coined by

Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) todenote scientific endeavors to

increase the proportion of personswith better than average geneticendowment through selective matingof marriage partners

Is the science which deals with allinfluences that improve the inbornqualities of a race; also with thosethat develop them to the utmostadvantage (THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY



Continue… Also defined as the use of genetic

knowledge to improve the humanrace































Documents

Your genes your choices