Kimiesha Nichols
Genetics has a major role in the onset of large number of non-communicable diseases, especially in case of monogenic diseases. As a result, genetic testing has gained credit and recognition for some advantages this DNA testing offers in prevention, treatment and management of disease. Two of its most important uses include for having information about genetic disposition to a particular disease and knowing about genetic characteristics of unborn child (Ross et al 2013). Rising from the elucidative potential of DNA testing, some legal, ethical and social concerns have surfaced up. The present essay with discuss these concerns to know whether or not genetic testing is the next big thing to be used widely for finding cures of deadly diseases.
In many communities, preferably in low to middle income countries, couples are encouraged to get tested for deadly diseases like thalassaemia or the foetus is tested for the same, which greatly reduces the prevalence of genetic diseases. But in many cases, couples are forced to go for genetic testing with no regard to obtain their informed and free consent. Women generally become the victim of such testing, who under social pressure succumb to family decisions. Genetic testing assesses genetic health of an individual, his potential risk of getting disability or a disease and this makes the test results liable for misuse. In many cases, insurance companies and employers make the customers and employees respectively go for this testing and then in case of any potential risk, these people are denied of getting insurance privately or through employer. The results of genetic testing can lead to discrimination which is socially weakening with severe socio-economic consequences. Knowledge of the test result of an individual can marginalize him or her from the mainstream society by virtue of identified health risks. Therefore, this is worrisome when such as individual rely on private insurance for potential health care services in future.
Advanced genetic technology allows the doctors to screen particular genes in womb of the mother, which can keep the child safe from more than 400 diseases. Genetic testing along with IVF and preimplantation screening help in determining any gene mutation, hence avoiding deadlier diseases (Ross et al. 2013). Soon, with the help of genetic testing, scientists will be able to fix the faulty genes. Scientists are turning into Gods by virtue of their knowledge about everything, but it is a failed attempt as there are many loopholes which have been already discussed in this paper.
Stem cell tourism is another aspect of so called evolutionary road to a cure, in which people go to other country to receive that treatment which is unavailable at home country (Raup 2012). This phenomenon of stem cell tourism, though not encouraged by large number of countries, exists primarily since majority of stem cells treatment are on trial and still not verified from reputed local medical services. People go to overseas for getting costly treatments that too without having proper knowledge about the course of treatment, consequences of treatment, that includes unanticipated medical outcomes and ignored family who bears the burden of treatments, costs, bad condition of the patient and invested hope (Raup 2012). Stem cell tourism play well with words like miracle and faith. This industry is sustaining because regenerative powers of stem cells are compared with religious powers which cannot be denied or overlooked by God-fearing patients and their families, who have no options but to believe on touts and agents of stem cell tourism.
Large number of trials and experiments for stem cell treatment are still under process and have no clinical efficacy. Many of these are at preliminary stages of translation and are less focused on safety. Effective clinical treatments are restricted only to bone marrow transplantation for immune system and blood related diseases, skin and corneal grafting. The agents of stem cell tourism sell out these crude treatments which are still to show their effectiveness. Therefore, in many countries, desperate patients who just want to save their lives by getting treated for the deadly diseases they are living with, make the easy prey for unscrupulous clinics that offer risky and untested stem cell treatments (Raup 2012). Ironically, the indignation over too many failures in stem cell tourism is quite limited. Patients are ready to pay thousands of dollars for under trial procedures or for the risky ones, hoping for just for some miracle to happen. The reason behind this is that they are not at all interested to pay any attention to what people say against the only hope they have. They are only ready to pay regard to their sickness or their miserable condition therefore, they are greatly focused on trying every possible option to save their lives or the lives of their loved ones. They have nothing to lose so they try on taking these under trial procedures.
Both the procedures of genetic testing and stem cell tourism have to prove a lot in terms of efficiency of procedures and success rates of treatments and better patient outcomes. So, the time to lose the hype has come, without losing any inch of hope.
References
Raup, C., 2012. Stem Cell Tourism. Embryo Project Encyclopedia.
Ross, L.F., Saal, H.M., David, K.L., Anderson, R.R. and American Academy of Pediatrics, 2013. Technical report: ethical and policy issues in genetic testing and screening of children. Genetics in Medicine, 15(3), pp.234-245.
