Genetic testing has many benefits, more than 2,000 conditions can be identified by genetic testing. It also helps to identify rare inherited conditions like cystic fibrosis, although it has its negative points. Genetic testing involves analysing a person’s DNA and searching for variants in genes that impact our health. However, a lot of variants do not have any strong association with disease. For many we don’t know whether they have any affects on the human body at all.
Genomic testing can have tremendous benefits, as in the case of diagnosing children with rare diseases. However, it also has tremendous benefits for people. Genomic testing can give a diagnosis to many patients with obscure symptoms with much lower costs than traditional methods. Genomic testing is a great idea, but it isn’t the perfect treatment method, yet which leaves people with doubts. The question still remains if we are prepared for this? A challenging obstacle to consider is the complexity of each individual person. To attempt to interpret one human genome is to tackle millions of genetic variants
Genetics is the study of how living organisms obtain common traits from previous relatives it provides available testing for over 2000 conditions like cystic fibrosis. All current discoveries in genetics can be traced back to the work of Gregor Mendel around the middle of the 19th century. During Mendel’s time, the most accepted hypothesis of the inheritance of physical traits was blended inheritance. At the time theorists who believed both parents contributed some elements most likely believed both parenteral contributions blended together so that their offspring’s physical traits were intermediate between those of the parents. Nowadays we have a clearer understanding of genetics and the parent’s involvement.
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Genetic testing, when appropriate is a powerful tool to gauge whether someone is at risk for diseases. Over the past decade, many ethical, legal and social implications that are associated with genetic testing and research have been raised. In order for genetic testing to be conducted safely and appropriately these issues should be discussed with the patient so they are fully aware of the benefits and risks that comes along with it. Despite this multiple concerns have arisen regarding the use and potential misuse of patient’s genetic information. Genetic information could potentially differ from other health information because of its long-lasting implication for an individual and their family.
Concerns range from the validity of a genetic test, to potential discrimination by employers or health insurers to the duty of disclosing important information to other family members. It’s very important that genetic test results are discussed with patient’s, so they understand what’s going on since many genetic tests will not provide simple positive/negative results, but most likely inconclusive results or risk estimates. It is important that patients understand the information that’s actually provided from a genetic test. Results should only be released to the people the test recipient has given consent for. The method of communication should also be chosen in advance to the test (i.e. phone call, text message etc.).
The first-time scientists sequenced a person’s genome, it took more than a decade and cost millions and millions of dollars. Currently, it takes less than twenty-four hours and costs around $5,000. Affordable genomic sequencing is rapidly approaching, but will this testing bankrupt us? In an environment of limited healthcare resources, costs and the overall effectiveness of various medical interventions are factors that have to be considered in funding decisions. Economic evaluation provides us with a valuable tool to help prioritise health interventions, allowing identification of said interventions that maximize health gains per every dollar. Economic evaluation is defined as “the comparative analysis of alternative courses of action in terms of both their costs and consequences” .
