ABSTRACT
To speculate about the future of genetic counseling and its continued adherence to the central tenet of nondirective counseling, a historical perspective of medical genetics and genetic counseling can provide a basis for exploration. An exploration of the impact of the Human Genome Project on genetic counseling as a discipline and a profession, as well as on the values and ethics we embrace, must begin by turning to the past for guidance and insights. Genetic counseling has its roots in the eugenics movement of the early 1900s, which was influenced by the work of Francis Galton. Human genetics, on the other hand, evolved from the concurrent rediscovery of Mendel’s laws of inheritance. In 1948, the American Society of Human Genetics was founded as a scientific and professional organization for clinical geneticists and human geneticists engaged in research. A major goal of the genetic counselors in medical centers was the prevention of birth defects.
