DNA Profile: Pros and Cons of Genetic Testing Paper Example

Do you anticipate obtaining your DNA profile? Why, or why not?

At this time, I am not interested in obtaining my DNA profile. Part of my reasoning comes from a moral standpoint because I believe that there is boundary between playing god and being proactive. That is not to say that wonderful things have not resulted from genetic research. My three-year-old niece is the prettiest little girl I have ever seen and a product of genetic research. Her parents tried for years to have a child including 4 unsuccessful intrauterine inseminations and 8 failed in-vitro fertilization attempts. They eventually determined that they would be unable to have a child. She was told by her reproductive endocrinologist that her ovarian quality was poor although she would be able to carry a child so they set off on a mission to find the most comparable donor to her. The process of selecting the donor is one I would consider part of natural selection, whereby they chose attributes like blonde hair, green eyes, and a mother with a high IQ (Burke, 2002).

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What are the pros and cons of finding out your genetic makeup?

Pros of genetic testing

Firstly, testing of genetic makeup of an individual offers early prevention of diseases as well as treatment. Knowing the disease before at an early stage will trigger faster treatment and this will help the healthcare provider to decide on the management of the disorder. In addition, the outcomes of the test can assist in learning the genetic disease and the ways in which it can affect them as well as their families. Secondly, testing of one's genetic makeup offers peace of mind if they discover that they don't have the gene for a specific disease. Thirdly, genetic testing can be used to establish parenthood of an individual where there is a case in court on the ownership of the child.

Cons of genetic testing

In most cases, genetic testing can result in physical risks since the process requires mere blood or tissue samples. for example, the method used in prenatal testing involves acquisition of amniotic fluid around the fetus which may result in inner damage of tissues and finally miscarriage. The practice of genetic testing may cause emotional and psychological stress which is as a result of outcomes of the test, for instance if a person finds out that he/she has a certain disease. Also, genetic testing maybe be expensive for some individuals depending on the type of test being undertaken and the healthcare center they visit. Genetic testing to an individual may bring about genetic discrimination when the individual discovers that he/she posses the gene of abnormality which makes him/her to develop specific genetic disorders (Billings et al. 1992).

References

Billings, P. R., Kohn, M. A., De Cuevas, M., Beckwith, J., Alper, J. S., & Natowicz, M. R. (1992). Discrimination as a consequence of genetic testing. American journal of human genetics, 50(3), 476.

Burke, W. (2002). Genetic testing. New England Journal of Medicine, 347(23), 1867-1875.