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Ethicality Of Genetic Testing

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Ethicality Of Genetic Testing
Genetic Testing Essay

Genetic testing is the analysis and examination of DNA, which is a line of code carrying instructions of your body’s function. Genetic testing reveals changes in the genes, usually things that will cause diseases and illnesses. Just because genetic testing provides a window of opportunity to prepare yourself from diseases, it cant really prevent an illness in some cases because it often really does nothing but give you a “maybe, maybe not”. (genome.gov)

Tay-Sachs disease is a disease that occurs around the age of 6 months and almost always results in death at age 4. It causes deterioration of the brain caused by harmful amounts of cell membrane enter the brains never cells. Leading to death of the cells. Currently, there is no known cure or prevention of the disease. Because of how rare the disease is, being only 16 cases a year (kidshealth.org) this will cause the testing for this disease to be even less reliable.

Science is there to help parents of soon to be Tay-Sachs children to be prepared for the problem. Whether or not Tay-Sachs will occur to a child can be detected while the baby is still inside the mother. This is known as prenatal testing. This way is more
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Because the baby is not born yet, it is to some people immoral that a baby’s life should be chosen for them. Others believe that a child’s short life is a life that there is not worth living due to all the incredible amount of pain that a child goes through during diseases such as Tay-Sachs disease. A great deal of religious people have a problem with genetic testing, just like they would about abortion and contraceptives, doctors are according to religious people “playing god” by reading and analyzing “his secret DNA code”. Also people believing in destiny and thing such as that will also find it offending.

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