Issue of Genetic Testing of Fetuses

As a society, we face new problems all the time. In our own time we are faced with the scourge of AIDS, which involves a whole panoply of ethical issues that are unique to this disease, issues such as confidentiality, disclosures, public health, and modes of transmission, as well as issues facing people with other terminal diseases such as the right to die by refusing extraordinary medical measures. Advances in genetics raise issues that are also entirely new. As it becomes possible to predict which children are likely to get certain diseases as they grow older, the question is raised as to whether this means they should be told. Brownlee writes that many of those who have been told of the results of genetic testing "have already found that the price of glimpsing t

. . .
CO DirectorGeneral Federico Mayor considered the matter in terms of international human rights issues when he asked, How can we set the limit between the legitimate desire to avoid transmitting genetic diseases and the illusory desire for the perfect child? . . . It is not unlikely that society will be tempted by eugenics towards whole populations that could be regarded as genetically vulnerable ("Gene Map Being Drawn; Now Ethics Dilemmas Begin"). What this might mean on a personal as well as societal level has already been demonstrated. In May 1992, Baby Cloe was born in London. Cystic fibrosis ran in the family, but pre-implantation genetic testing was used to ascertain whether this was being passed to the child. Several eggs were removed from the mother's womb and fertilized in vitro with her husband's sperm. The fertilized eggs were then allowed to develop through the eighth cell division and were then tested for cystic fibrosis. Two of the embryos were found to be without the disease, so they were implanted in the mother; one developed and was born. Preimplantation genetic screening is currently used to test for a number of genetic diseases, including sicklecell anemia and TaySachs (Edwords 23). Testing in t
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Testing British, , Advancement Sciencesponsored, Philip Kitcher, London Cystic, Federico Mayor, Craig Venter, Dilemmas Begin, Genome Project, genetic testing, Institutes Health, map drawn ethics, ethics dilemmas begin, cystic fibrosis, ethics dilemmas, drawn ethics, gene map, map drawn, dilemmas begin, edwords 23, drawn ethics dilemmas, gene map drawn, panoply ethical issues, genetic diseases, genetic information,
Approximate Word count = 1552
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Issue of Genetic Testing of Fetuses