Early Detection Technology Cannot Genetics Dilemm

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Early Detection Technology Cannot Genetics Dilemm

Genetics Dilemma Discussion

Part 1:Make a T-chart showing the positive and negative aspects of personal genetic testing. [4 pts]

Part 2: Answer the following questions.

  • You decide to have genetic testing completed on you and your partner prior to having children. You find out that you and your partner are both carriers of Cystic Fibrosis. Show your Punnett square below. (NOTE: CF is not a sex-linked trait)
  • How could you use the information given to you by the geneticist to make an informed decision about having children?
  • Now consider the possibility of having a personal genetic test done for a disease causing gene, such as the BRCA gene for breast cancer, or a gene that causes testicular or prostate cancer. How might you use the results of such a test to inform your personalhealth decisions and care options?

Part 3:In the space below, respond to the following prompt.

With the sequencing of the human genome during the last decade, we now have the ability to “screen for” various genetic disorders. People who are going to start a family can sit down with a genetic counselor and be tested for diseases such as Tay Sachs and Cystic Fibrosis. We can also have our own DNA screened for diseases like breast cancer to find out if we are susceptible to them.

All of the early detection technology cannot help us to make decisions as to what to do with this information. If you find that you and your partner have a 25% chance of making a baby with Tay Sachs, do you proceed with pregnancy? Do you take the risk? How much risk is too much? Would your desire to know be different for a disease that could potentially be cured, such as breast cancer, versus one that is always fatal, like Huntington’s Disease?

In your dilemma discussion, you should discuss what type of testing, if any, you would seek out, and how you would make decisions based on the results of any testing you had done.


GENETIC TESTING: DILEMMA DISCUSSION 2

Resources:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/genetic-testing/MY00370

http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/gtesting/index.htm

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/ethics-of-genetic-testing-medical-insurance-and-651

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v9n2/outstrips.html

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/gettingpregnant/geneticcounseling.html