Significant scientific advances have now made it possible to map and sequence the entire human genetic structure. In less than two decades the process has become far less costly, making it possible today for nearly anyone to order an individual analysis via the Internet. The information those maps provide can reveal inherited traits as well as the potential for developing disease, making genomics companies informative, useful, and controversial.
A product of the Human Genome Project that was developed during the 1980s, the companies are a commercial outgrowth of those studies. During that period there was a stiff scientific competition to become the first to create a complete map, a race that spurred enormous advances in knowledge. In the world today, a simple DNA test gives individuals unprecedented insight into their own inherited make-up.
While analysis gives people far more information than was previously available, it cannot provide answers to all the questions it generates. It does give individuals a detailed look at their own physical characteristics, including the potential to develop certain types of health problems. It creates a more thorough portrait of the genetic results of inheritance. Although useful on many levels, there can be unexpected consequences.
The primary strengths of sequencing are medical. While most people have some idea of the physical problems their parents or grandparents may have experienced, knowing whether those traits have been inherited makes future disease development easier to predict and treat. The information can be readily compared to a greater database, giving medical researchers more insight into potential therapies.
Although an analysis is not a diagnosis, it still can change lives. When the potential for development of a serious health problem is revealed, there is an increased opportunity for people to take proactive steps in managing personal well-being. Highlighting that potential gives doctors better insight into the most effective medications, allows more accurately targeted screening, and personalizes health care to a greater extent.
In addition to the medical advantages, there are social benefits that become more obvious to people now able to widely share their own experiences. Being able to contact others who face similar issues provides a better basis of support for those struggling to cope with illness. While this can be a real advantage, some scientists worry that the information will be used to stigmatize or profile people.
Even as the technology advances, personal gene sequencing has spotlighted privacy issues. The ideal solution would be to protect significant databases from outside scrutiny, an unrealistic goal today. It is now possible to gain vast amounts of personal knowledge from the residue left by a human touch. The results can not only reveal physical characteristics, including race, but commonly implicate people in crimes.
The challenge for genetic information companies today it to provide critical personal information without generating discrimination based primarily on potential or probability. Laws have already been enacted to prevent employers from using genetics to screen new applicants. While the potential health benefits of genetic mapping are enormous and far-reaching, preventing abuses of this technology is of equal importance.
A product of the Human Genome Project that was developed during the 1980s, the companies are a commercial outgrowth of those studies. During that period there was a stiff scientific competition to become the first to create a complete map, a race that spurred enormous advances in knowledge. In the world today, a simple DNA test gives individuals unprecedented insight into their own inherited make-up.
While analysis gives people far more information than was previously available, it cannot provide answers to all the questions it generates. It does give individuals a detailed look at their own physical characteristics, including the potential to develop certain types of health problems. It creates a more thorough portrait of the genetic results of inheritance. Although useful on many levels, there can be unexpected consequences.
The primary strengths of sequencing are medical. While most people have some idea of the physical problems their parents or grandparents may have experienced, knowing whether those traits have been inherited makes future disease development easier to predict and treat. The information can be readily compared to a greater database, giving medical researchers more insight into potential therapies.
Although an analysis is not a diagnosis, it still can change lives. When the potential for development of a serious health problem is revealed, there is an increased opportunity for people to take proactive steps in managing personal well-being. Highlighting that potential gives doctors better insight into the most effective medications, allows more accurately targeted screening, and personalizes health care to a greater extent.
In addition to the medical advantages, there are social benefits that become more obvious to people now able to widely share their own experiences. Being able to contact others who face similar issues provides a better basis of support for those struggling to cope with illness. While this can be a real advantage, some scientists worry that the information will be used to stigmatize or profile people.
Even as the technology advances, personal gene sequencing has spotlighted privacy issues. The ideal solution would be to protect significant databases from outside scrutiny, an unrealistic goal today. It is now possible to gain vast amounts of personal knowledge from the residue left by a human touch. The results can not only reveal physical characteristics, including race, but commonly implicate people in crimes.
The challenge for genetic information companies today it to provide critical personal information without generating discrimination based primarily on potential or probability. Laws have already been enacted to prevent employers from using genetics to screen new applicants. While the potential health benefits of genetic mapping are enormous and far-reaching, preventing abuses of this technology is of equal importance.
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