The Ethical Dilemmas of Genetic Testing for Huntingtons...

The Ethical Dilemmas of Genetic Testing for Huntingtons Disease INTRODUCTION Huntingtons Disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant, progressive, neurodegenerative disorder (Walker, 2007 and Harmon, 2007). The gene that causes the disease is located on the fourth chromosome and causes an abnormal number of repeats in the patients genetic code (Harmon, 2007). Huntingtons Disease can have devastating effects on patients quality of life. The first symptoms of HD generally start between the ages of 30 and 45 and patients are typically asymptomatic prior to this time (Terrenoire, 1992 and Walker, 2007). However, the disease progresses with subtle changes in motor control, personality, and cognition. Patients eventually develop distinct†¦show more content†¦However, confidentiality rights also protect the patients health information and right to privacy. Another issue that arises concerns the confidentiality of HD diagnoses with relation to insurance companies. Many patients fear that they will be denied or will no longer be able to afford i nsurance coverage if the insurance company learns that they will one day have HD (Ethical issues of genetic diagnosis, 2007). Insurance companies may also begin to mandate that genetically-related individuals undergo predictive genetic testing for HD if one family member develops the disease (Ethical issues of genetic diagnosis, 2007). Another ethical debate reigns in the choice for HD patients to have children and in prenatal screening for HD. Since HD is generally not diagnosed until later in life, many patients have children before their HD diagnosis (Ethical issues of genetic diagnosis, 2007). The children of one parent with HD have a 50% chance of developing the disease themselves. However, if a patient tests positive for the gene that causes Huntingtons disease before having children, conflicts could arise between partners about whether or not to even have children (Ethical issues of genetic diagnosis, 2007 and Tassicker, Savulescu, Skene, Marshall, Fitzgerald Delatycki, 2003). The predictive genetic test for HD can also be performed before a baby is born. IfShow MoreRelatedCase Analysis: Danville Airlines1259 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Danville Airlines has created an ethical and legal dilemma by not being accurate, precise and clear on how they are doing medical testing, causing undue stress and potentially career-ending circumstances for David Reiger, one of their best pilots. What Danville did was illegal and unethical due to negligence. David Reiger has every right to sue them to continue flying, and the medical evidence suggests that the Huntingtons disease gene can be dormant for decades before being activeRead MoreGene Presents Moral And Ethical Dilemmas Essay1659 Words   |  7 PagesHuntington s chorea, commonly referred to as Huntington’s disease is an utterly devastating diagnosis for not only the patient affected directly with the disease but also for their biological children. Huntington’s disease is an inherited genetic disorder which causes the death of brain cells resulting in physical and mental abnormalities that worsen over time until certain death. As if that were not bad enough, the off spring of Huntington’s disease affected patients have a 50% chance of inheritingRead More Ethical Dilemmas of Genetic Prenatal Screening Essay679 Words   |  3 Pagesis about the genetic structuring of our offspring. I ask myself, will we able to choose the physical features our child? If so, do we as a society think this will be an ethical practice? Perhaps, scientifically, this might be entirely possible, but law will most likely restrict it. An article written by Frederic Golden helped me draw some understanding on this hot topic. Golden commences his article with a brief story of a mother and father who have been through prenatal testing. They testedRead MoreThe Disadvantages of Genetic Testing on Children Discussed in Dena Davis Book Genetic Dilemmas2357 Words   |  10 Pagesof her book Genetic Dilemmas, Dena Davis asserts that it is unethical for parents to subject their children to genetic testing for the markers of adult-onset genetic diseases because it places an unfair constraint on a child’s right to an open future. It both removes the child’s ability to choose whether to be tested as an adult and has the potential to negatively alter the overall trajectory of their lives. While the current consensus amongst medical professionals is that such testing should beRead MoreThe Pros and Cons of Genetic Testing2082 Words   |  9 Pagessaid, genetic testing is now available to essentially anyone. While genetic testing may put us a great advantage scientifically, it could also be a set-back . Genetic testing is really helpful in medical circumstances but in situations where a person just wants to know what their genes say about them, it can cause unnecessary stress on a family and give families information they are not able to accept or interpret. A new and growing trend in the medical field right now is genetic testing. TestingRead MoreWhat Is Genetic Sequencing?2598 Words   |  11 PagesWhat is Genetic Sequencing? â€Å"If you could skip to the last chapter in your book of life would you read it†? This is a common question asked to most people while they are growing up. Everyone always viewed this question in a figurative sense and it made them ponder their future. However, with genomic sequencing this question has become a real dilemma for doctors in the health profession. Imagine that a sick baby enters into your office and you screen their genetic code for kidney disease in the processRead MoreGenetic Testing and Screening Essay1868 Words   |  8 Pagesscience and biotechnology are raising many ethical and moral dilemmas for everyone. No one will be left unaffected. Everyone will have to make a decision and take a stand on these issues. I will discuss advancements of genetic screening and testing. The first step to any ethical problem is to understand the topic. It is difficult to formulate accurate ideas without knowledge about the topic, so first I will provide a little backgrou nd information on genetic screening. I will then point out some ofRead MoreEssay on Analytical Summaries4643 Words   |  19 Pagesparticular genetic disease. The first article contains references to all three types of evidence discussed in this chapter. Compare the language used to depict direct experimentation, after-the-fact evidence, and values questions. Article 1 Predictive Probes by Jerry E. Bishop Several years ago, Nancy Wexler’s mother died of Huntington’s disease, a hereditary and always-fatal affliction that strikes in midlife. Since then, Ms. Wexler, the 38-year-old president of the Hereditary Diseases FoundationRead MoreAssisted Reproduction - 12056 Words   |  9 PagesA married couple wishes to have a child; however, the 32 year old mother knows that she is a carrier for Huntingtons disease (HD). HD is a genetic disorder that begins showing signs at anywhere from 35-45 years of age. Its symptoms begin with slow loss of muscle control and end in loss of speech, large muscle spasms, disorientation and emotional outbursts. After 15-20 years of symptoms HD ends in death. HD is a dominant disorder which means that her child will have a 50% chance of contracting theRead MorePros And Cons Of Genetic Engineering1662 Words   |  7 PagesGenetic engineering is the process whereby new DNA is added or existing DNA is altered in an organism s genome. This may invol ve changing one base pair (A-T or C-G) or deleting entire sections of DNA or adding additional copies of a gene. This results in creating new traits that were not previously present in the organism’s genome. This is done to selectively breed desired traits or to create plants with increased resistance to pesticides and increased tolerance to herbicides. For example insulin

My Super Power Free Essays

Super Power is an extra ordinary power that is God’s gift to a person. Super power is a special power that some special people have; it is rare to find people with super power. Everyone wants super power like laser eyes,, flying power, fire breathing power, a power by which people can make electricity pass through him but he wont get affected, a person may have a strong skull, freezing power, supper strength, strength of being invisible, being a fairy, magic power, etc. We will write a custom essay sample on My Super Power or any similar topic only for you Order Now Even I want super powers, I want such a power with which I can see the death, I wish I could see any signs by which I could understand that there is going to be an accident or some how if any person is going to die. I had a dream of having this power when I first saw a movie named ‘The Eye’. This is a horror film, in which a girl who lived in a small town who had not much power or believers except her mother. She ha this super power, people thought she was a witch and thought she used to kill the people as she could tell who was about to die, so she suicides. But before she died she predicted a big accident which will occur on the way to the city. She died but her spirit was still there, on the other hand there was a girl named Sydney who lived in the city, who lost her eye sight when she was 5 years old. The girl chooses Sydney to fulfill her last wish, to stop the accident and save the people. And at the and she did save the people†¦ From the movie I’ve learned one thing the people who have power or believers doesn’t want to do any thing from their hearts, they just know to tell people that they can do many things, but in reality they don’t do anything but, people who wants to do something doesn’t have the power. If I had this super power, I don’t think anyone would believe me that if I was telling the truth or I will be trying to save them, they may also take me as a witch too. But I still want to help them; I want to save all the damages and all the people. If I had this super power, I know o couldn’t save or help anyone but, I can tell from my heart that I would try my best to save them. How to cite My Super Power, Papers

Columbus Was No Hero free essay sample

Columbus Was No Hero History textbooks and stories passed down generation have always seemed to portray Christopher Columbus, the daring European explorer, as a man of heroic qualities and benevolent intentions. No American History textbook is complete without the heartwarming story of an ambitions sailor born to a poor Venetian carpenter who thought outside of the box, discovered the Americas, and at the same time, changed the world forever. However concrete evidence and undeniable fact shows us otherwise. Christopher Columbus was an opportunist, in the sense that he would go wrought any meaner possible to attain wealth. As for what deems him a hero in the public eye, his discovery and his legacy; it is arguable whether he was indeed the first European to land on the Americas and, due to his apparent character flaws, the main long lasting global affect his conquest seems to have had is the introduction of a master white race in the Americas, stemmed from slavery made necessary by genocide he incited in the Caribbean, which has led to deep rooted racism in the new world. We will write a custom essay sample on Columbus Was No Hero or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page No hero would bring this upon a nation. To no extent was Christopher Columbus a hero. In elementary school children learn about the man who went against society to say the world was not flat and that it was indeed spherical, but Christopher Columbus was no radical. In truth, few people on both sides of the Atlantic believed in 1492 that the world was flat. Most Europeans and Native Americans knew the worlds to be round. (Lone, 56) Nor was he the first European to have traveled west to the new world. There is now sufficient evidence to assume that Norse tribes had actually reached Greenland and Canada far before any Spanish hip set sail towards the Americas. Columbus sure learned of Greenland and probably also of North America if he visited Iceland in 1477 as he claimed to have done. (Lone, 49) Therefore Columbus was not a forward thinker but more an opportunist. The Spanish Inquisition of the early sasss significantly weakened the Spanish Empire. There was nothing to lose in sending Columbus with three ships though uncharted waters. He set out to find his own wealth i n new lands and when he returned with a taste of the richness of the new world; birds, precious metals, Indians, caused quite a stir in Seville. (Lone, 61) Therefore Columbus was not a heroic intellect and what followed with his next voyages further exposed his true villainous nature. In 1495 Michele De Cone wrote about accompanying