Breadcrumbs Section. Click here to navigate to respective pages.
Chapter
Chapter
type of gene present and therefore the probable colour of the eye. A test of this type may be available shortly since eye colour is a genetically determined trait, but more fanciful ideas of testing in the same way for height and weight are less likely to reach fruition because of the very high environmental element in these two. This example is a taste of the future. Perhaps individuals and society as a whole will not mind this sort of information being collected, but I would have grave misgivings about collection of such information. Once such tests are available, any unscrupulous regime could start eugenics programmes on very spurious grounds, but justifying them with application of a scientific test. The use of SNPs forensically is also likely to run into problems if for some reason the ones chosen for criminal investigations turn out later to reveal information about an individual’s health in some way. This may be quite subtle, such as potential for heart disease. If the test has been made and this information is a by-product of the test the question needs to asked as to whether it should have been done in the first place and, secondly, whether the tested individual should be told. The individual may not want to know but if the testing authority has information that might be used to improve the health of an individual, does it have a duty to pass this on? Or would the tested individual have the right to say that he or she has been tested for a medical condition without prior knowledge or permission as this is quite separate from the DNA profiling carried out on a sample taken only for that reason? SUMMARY
DOI link for type of gene present and therefore the probable colour of the eye. A test of this type may be available shortly since eye colour is a genetically determined trait, but more fanciful ideas of testing in the same way for height and weight are less likely to reach fruition because of the very high environmental element in these two. This example is a taste of the future. Perhaps individuals and society as a whole will not mind this sort of information being collected, but I would have grave misgivings about collection of such information. Once such tests are available, any unscrupulous regime could start eugenics programmes on very spurious grounds, but justifying them with application of a scientific test. The use of SNPs forensically is also likely to run into problems if for some reason the ones chosen for criminal investigations turn out later to reveal information about an individual’s health in some way. This may be quite subtle, such as potential for heart disease. If the test has been made and this information is a by-product of the test the question needs to asked as to whether it should have been done in the first place and, secondly, whether the tested individual should be told. The individual may not want to know but if the testing authority has information that might be used to improve the health of an individual, does it have a duty to pass this on? Or would the tested individual have the right to say that he or she has been tested for a medical condition without prior knowledge or permission as this is quite separate from the DNA profiling carried out on a sample taken only for that reason? SUMMARY
type of gene present and therefore the probable colour of the eye. A test of this type may be available shortly since eye colour is a genetically determined trait, but more fanciful ideas of testing in the same way for height and weight are less likely to reach fruition because of the very high environmental element in these two. This example is a taste of the future. Perhaps individuals and society as a whole will not mind this sort of information being collected, but I would have grave misgivings about collection of such information. Once such tests are available, any unscrupulous regime could start eugenics programmes on very spurious grounds, but justifying them with application of a scientific test. The use of SNPs forensically is also likely to run into problems if for some reason the ones chosen for criminal investigations turn out later to reveal information about an individual’s health in some way. This may be quite subtle, such as potential for heart disease. If the test has been made and this information is a by-product of the test the question needs to asked as to whether it should have been done in the first place and, secondly, whether the tested individual should be told. The individual may not want to know but if the testing authority has information that might be used to improve the health of an individual, does it have a duty to pass this on? Or would the tested individual have the right to say that he or she has been tested for a medical condition without prior knowledge or permission as this is quite separate from the DNA profiling carried out on a sample taken only for that reason? SUMMARY
ABSTRACT