HUMAN GENETICS TECHNOLOGY
Dear editor,
Human genetics technologies application is beneficial in that it helps in identifying and testing information in people’s bodies. In application of human genetics technology, it is requirement to consider the ethical issues i.e. if there are more benefits and less harm in testing of genes to analyze a person’s information of genes. In genetic service, there are principles that govern ethical issues and they include justice, beneficence, non-maleficence and autonomy.
Justice addresses the values concerning the good of the public and social justice in that an individual’s interests should not disadvantage the others and it is ethical for everyone to get access to services regardless of age, religion, tribe or gender. Autonomy is the self determination principle and it must balance against other’s rights. Beneficence is responsibility to ensure that policies are for the community good while nonmalfience means that a person should not harm.(Prudhomme, 2006).
My position on human genetic technology is that it is helpful in that they protect people’s health and they improve safety of work place. According to the utilitarian theory, an action’s moral worth is determined by helpfulness in maximization of utility of all human beings i.e. an outcome of an action determines its moral worth. This theory considers first the results of an action and from this choose what will result to more good. Human genetic technologies have more good results and therefore it is supported by the utilitarian theory. This technology has a benefit in that gene therapy has been used in treatment of heart and autoimmune diseases. Also other diseases such as cystic fibroids are cured gene therapy. Also during pregnancy, women are able to know the genetic defects of the fetus through screening. (Prudhomme, 2006).
There are arguments that genetic technologies have disadvantages that include implications for other family members in that a test of genes may disclose information about other blood relatives, in that they might develop that condition. A health record status of relatives may be created by recording a person’s information in a medical record. All these arguments against are outweighed by the fact that doctors have ethical responsibility to keep information of an individual confidential and secret and this will help in preventing harm to the health of others. Also the individuals who are tested have obligations and responsibilities; they need to consider what the information means to their relatives.
In the case an individual for a condition that will appear in life later, only that person can disclose that information to the others. A third party must not know about this without a consent which is written and these third parties include employers and insurers. The other argument against human genetic technologies is that they have genetic discrimination which includes employment loss, insurance, promotion and health care. These don’t outweigh the benefits of human genetic technologies because ethical safeguards are there. (Prudhomme, 2006).
Application of human genetics technologies has a lot of benefits and should be encouraged and more research done in order to help human beings in their genetics conditions. It should be ensured that genetic counseling is offered to the individual before and after the test. The advantages of the genetic tests outweigh the disadvantages and these benefits include; a person gets to know about his/her genetic information, genetic conditions are known and treated, pregnant women are able to know the genetic defects of the fetus and therefore all these results are for the benefit of human beings in that there are more benefits than harm to human beings and so it is ethical and to add to this, doctors and the individual tested has an ethical responsibility to keep the information secret and confidential. (Prudhomme, 2006).
Sincerely, (name, address, phone number)
References
Prudhomme, J.O. (2006): Anticipating human genetic technology– Interactivity Foundation.
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