Gene Research and Testing

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Gene Research and Testing

Advantages

  • Helps with family planning: parents can be tested for a genetic disorder before deciding to have children/embryos can be fertilised in a lab/fetuses can have their amniotic fluid checked for the genetic variant in their fetal DNA
  • Can help to improve healthcare; if people knew that they could develop a genetic disorder, they may be more conscious with their lifestyle choices.
  • If doctors know what genetic disorder a patient may have, they can predict how they might respond to certain medicines

Disadvantages

  • Can lead to the destruction of embryos or termination- some people think that any potential life should be allowed to survive, no matter what disorders they have.
  • Increases stree; if people know they are likely to develop a disease, they could panic every time they show a slight symptom

Evaluation

Overall, genetic testing is a greatly effective advancement in biotechnology, since it can improve healthcare across all sector and prevent severe illness in newborns, as treatment can start earlier.

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