ABSTRACT
A series of ethical, social and legal problems will then arise, which will demand the establishment of new codes of practice. New developments may require a new Code for the 21st century. The classic answer of medical ethics gives the priority to absolute confidentiality. Predictive genetic testing can be performed on single persons, on members of a family at risk, on a population as a whole or only on subsets of it without regard to family history. Predictive medicine aims at preventing the expression of diseases in persons carrying a morbid genetic trait. Presymptomatic diagnosis of monogenic diseases detects a genetic disorder long before the onset of debilitating symptoms , with a probability close to 100% for the manifestation of the corresponding disease. The human genome analysis program tends to create, in the public, the myth of the unlimited capacity of genetics in the prediction of future life and health.
