Challenges, Opportunities, and Ethical Issues of the Human Genome - Essay Example

Running Head: Health Sciences and Medicine The Human Genome Project: Challenges, Opportunities, and Ethical Issues Date of Submission Abstract The human genome project is an international scientific program intended to create comprehensive physical and genetic information about the human genome. Scientists and policymakers alike are testifying to the potential benefits of the human genome project. But ethicists and theologians are opposing the project based on the ethical concerns it raises. This essay tries to answer three of the major questions the human genome project poses: (1) What will the world look like in regard to genetic testing, genetic engineering, and cloning; (2) can the information learned from the Human Genome Project be used to eradicate disease; (3) what are the ethical implications and how might this power be misused? Introduction Governments across the globe are willingly and solidly supporting a human genome project that will totally map the chromosomes of all human beings. Advocates of genetic testing, genetic engineering, and cloning are strongly testifying to the massive benefits the human genome project will bring to humanity. But numerous questions are still bothering the critical public: What will the world look like in regard to genetic testing, genetic engineering, and cloning? Can the information learned from the Human Genome Project be used to eradicate disease? What are the ethical implications and how might this power be misused? This essay provides brief answers to these unsettling issues. The Promised Future of the Human Genome Project Robert Oppenheimer, in 1945, publicly illustrated the part of science in the invention of the atomic bomb (Annas, 1989, 1): When you come right down to it, the reason that we did this job is because it was an organic necessity. If you are a scientist, you cannot stop such a thing. If your are scientist, you believe that it is good to find out how the world works; that it is good to find what the realities are; that it is good to turn over to mankind at large the greatest possible power to control the world. The interesting point in Oppenheimer’s statement is his stress on the idea that science, as well as technology, is inevitable and relentless with the concurrent argument that its objective is to manipulate nature (Annas, 1989, 1), conflicting ideas that appear similarly at the core of the human genome project. The Wall Street Journal looks more accustomed and open to the commercial uses and future benefits of genetic engineering, genetic mapping and sequencing, and cloning than National Institutes of Health (NIH), even though Congressional backing of the project is anchored mainly in the expectation that genetic mapping can strengthen the leading position of the United States in the industry of biotechnology (Annas, 1989, 1-2). Thus the question is: What will the world look like in regard to genetic testing, genetic engineering, and cloning? In the future, parents will be able to decide whether to bring a child to the world or not with the help of genetic testing. They will be able to know what their offspring will look like, what will be the child’s vulnerabilities, and other human features that can be detected through genetic testing. The parents, if they want to, can even request a change to their offspring’s genetic makeup. This will be the future of the human family with the human genome project. This could thus hinder the human gene pool and the process of natural selection. However, besides enhancing people’s knowledge of genetics, the human genome project will create new employment opportunities in information industry, health care, biotechnology, and public policy (Morse, 1998, 2). The field of public policy and ethics will demand the broad participation of policymakers, sociologists, scientists, health care professionals, theologians, and philosophers. The human genome project has made possible genetic mapping and cloning of abnormal genes which are susceptible to a large number of human diseases. Besides illnesses passed on in a Mendelian way, there are more than a few transmittable, chronic, and degenerative diseases, and susceptibility to environment forces, wherein an individual’s genetic structure influences the pathway of the disease (Curley & Caperna, 2003, 3). If a gene(s) related to the illness has been genetically copied, it becomes possible to create genetically based instruments to diagnose abnormal features of the gene which are vulnerable to illnesses. The capacity to diagnose the likelihood of disease facilitates timely action to reduce the severity of the illness or to apply gene therapy to remedy hereditary disorders. Moreover, genetics has the capacity to identify individual differences so that appropriate intervention can be recommended (Curley & Caperna, 2003, 3). Therefore, therapy or intervention can be more effectual and individualized. However, despite of the professed benefits of the human genome project, it involves inherent ethical implications. First, there are concerns over privacy and information access and control. The government, the military, and employers, for instance, will demand access to the database of human genome. Scientists may insist to limit access to such information, but they will definitely have practically no control over its application (Curley & Caperna, 2003, 1). The second ethical issue concerns what is widely referred to as ‘eugenics,’ the genetic engineering of organisms, or the removal of ‘unwanted’ genes to enhance an offspring’s advantageous features. New technologies for diagnosing traits and manipulating genes contribute to the rapid attainment of the goals of eugenics (Annas, 1989). A third ethical issue concerns the reality that highly sophisticated technologies do not merely alter what individuals can do, they alter even the human mind. Exploitation or mishandling of genetic information could infringe genetic confidentiality. Even life insurance or health plans could be influenced by an individual’s genetic information. Genetic information may also be exploited to design and create weapons of mass destruction. It may also worsen racial prejudice and segregation, as well as widen the gap between the haves and have-nots. These are not all the ethical issues inherent in the human genome project, but demonstrate that the ethical concerns raised by the project are very real and inadequately understood. The current interest, nonetheless, is not with the actual implication, but rather with the process. With current methods, it is approximated it takes four decades for a scientist to sequence a single gene (Morse, 1998). This seems a tremendous misuse of time, effort, skills, and knowledge. Meanwhile, as further stated by Morse (1998), the United States is anxious that other nations, particularly Japan, might acquire competitive leverage. Fortunately, the magnitude of the project, and the resources held by other nations, frustrate the ambition of the United States to pull off the human genome project single-handedly. Conclusions The human genome project has been exaggerated and excessively advertised. It is the responsibility of the people who respect ethical rules to make sure that the risks, as well as the potentials and opportunities, are thoroughly and openly examined. But sadly, ethics is usually considered by scientists and other scholars only when it either advances their interests or does not get in their way. If it indicates a more gradual progress or a more calculated analysis of the disadvantages of science, it is discarded as ignorant, irrational, or backward. References Annas, G. (1989). Who’s Afraid of the Human Genome? The Hastings Center Report, 19(4), 1+ Curley, R. & Caperna, L. (2003). The Brave New World is Here: Privacy Issues and the Human Genome Project. Defense Counsel Journal, 70(1), 1+ Morse, A. (1998). Searching for the Holy Grail: The Human Genome Project and Its Implications. Journal of Law and Health, 13(2), 1+ Read More