Cracking Your Genetic Code: Exploring Personalized Medicine - Movie Review Example

Cracking Your Genetic Exploring Personalized Medicine Cracking Your Genetic Exploring Personalized Medicine Personalized medicine is based on using tailored medical treatments that are specific to an individual based on their genetic make-up. It takes health care to a new level by customizing it specific to the patient. Many tests are run in order to determine what a person’s genetics are so that doctors and specialists can offer treatments for illnesses and diseases based on what their DNA make up is and if they are at risk for other medical conditions due to their family history. This reaches beyond clinical diagnosis where typically a patient’s vital signs, symptoms, family and medical history and any laboratory test results may conclude. This form of medicine is specifically targeted to treat a patient based on their body chemistry and genotyping. Discussion When watching “Cracking Your Genetic Code,” (PBSNova Sub) viewers learn a lot about the potential of specialized medicine but they also learn a lot about themselves that they may not want to know. A simple flash drive can hold all of the DNA of one single person. At $350,000, a person can see their entire genome sequence. It is a revolution in medicine that could result in using a person’s genetic make up to not only diagnose illnesses but to also treat and cure them. This results in a customized treatment plan known as personalized medicine. While this appears to be quite beneficial in the scientific, technology and healthcare fields, there are also many issues that surround this topic. Many people question the ethical, social, and legal issues that are related to receiving personalized medicine. It is believed that this is unethical and could be an invasion of privacy for the patient. There are fears that insurance companies or other health care professionals could access this information. If someone else were to see that based on a person’s genome that they are at an increased risk for another medical issue, insurance companies could try to cancel a patient’s insurance or a health care provider could interfere by noticing that there is an increased risk. No one is for sure who all would have access to this information. Additionally, knowing your own genetic code could cause fear and nervousness. Simply by clicking on a laptop, a person could find out so much knowledge about themselves and their risks for certain diseases. This could be a social issue in the fact that people might turn into hypochondriacs, always wondering if they are going to develop a disease. Not everyone will want to know the secrets behind what truth their genes tell. Once a person divulges into their own personal information, there is no turning back. In addition, there may be a genetic mutation that shows up on the genome analysis. This would tell the patient that no matter what, the person will develop a certain disease or medical condition no matter what they try to do and that personalized medicine may not even work. There are 6 billion genetic letters that create a genome sequence. When sorting through a genome of a person, the DNA is divided out to see what the codes of a person’s cellular make up says about them. If DNA is damaged, there are mutations. DNA is coding in letters and make up their own coded language. If there is a ‘misspelling’ of DNA on a chromosome, then there is an issue in the person’s chromosomes which makes them more likely to develop a disease. Scientists can go through a sequence of DNA and diagnose a mysterious disorder. While being able to crack a person’s own genome to see what their DNA says about them, it is not just for the sick. At some point in the future, the cost to have a person’s DNA all spelled out for them will go down significantly. With an anticipated cost of few thousand dollars, there will be several people who will be curious. What this could do is make them anxious that they will be at risk of a disease or illness. Just because the DNA code can be cracked and doctors can diagnose their patients does not mean that a person will have a disease that is curable. Knowing that life can expire due to a certain illness might be compared to playing God and that in those terms, people are not supposed to know what is going to happen to them. There are some companies that offer a less costly yet less detailed cracked code of the human genome. A company called 23 and Me is one of these companies that was started with genotyping technology with the goal of making genetic information accessible. With a simple saliva test, the company can show that some people may have odd traits. There is an odds calculator that this company offers. Genotyping is not as specific which is why it is less expensive. As a society, people could over-interpret these do-it-yourself DNA results. While genetic information is accessible, people can check out their genotype make up by logging in on a computer rather than by visiting a physician. This could cause people to have a mad rush to go get tested for diseases that they are at higher risk for when they look through the results of their genotypes. If it shows that they are above average risk for some diseases such as Type II diabetes, they can take action and change their lifestyle before they actually are diagnosed. In this instance, it is helpful to be able to predict what a person’s future health situation has in store for them. However, when comparing some of these smaller companies that offer genotyping, when conducting a study about how well they coincide with each other by offering similar results, some of the results can be contradictory when comparing them. One may say that a person is at higher risk while another company shows that they are at an average risk. Some of these results come only from a possible prediction of genotyping that is merely based on inconclusive evidence. When looking at some chromosomes and genes, some people have a gene that have a mutation that puts them at higher risk for a disease. While another person may show that they have the same gene, they may not have the disease while another person who has the same genetic make-up will never come down with it. There is too many gray areas when it comes to using these cheaper genotyping companies. Some people who have a family medical history of someone in their family had a disease, there is a possibility that a person is also a carrier of that same gene. While they may not have it, it could appear in their children. While being the person in the middle and since their parent had a certain disease and now their child has the same thing, it is up to them if they want to know their DNA code. If they get an answer that predicts that it is extremely likely that they too will contract the disease, it is like a death sentence. This is something that society is possibly not ready for. Sometimes it is best to leave the unknown alone so to eliminate the fear of when the disease will strike. However, some people may want to be able to plan out their lives. It can become a burden upon their lives. In families, by a person knowing, it may open the eyes of other family members who simply do not want to know. Some of the costs of knowing what the genetics say about the potential for developing disease may outweigh the benefits. It can entirely change a person’s life and they may not be able to enjoy life for each moment as it comes and instead live in fear. Personalized medicine only works if the gene can be identified. A decoded genome can help someone prepare for the potential diagnosis and do things within their lifestyle to change the course of their health, depending on the severity of the disease. One thing is that doctors will be able to target medications or treatments that are most likely to work. For many people, this can provide people hope that there is a cure if multiple treatments have failed in the past. This can cause relief for many but anxiety for others. Is it ethical to already know these things? If people know too much information about themselves, they will always have it in the back of their minds that a certain genetic sequence could cause them to be sick later in life. To know this information and to know a person’s predetermined destiny of whether or not they are going to be sick is a touchy subject for many people and an ethical dilemma. When legal issues are taken into consideration, not only could these genetic codes fall into the hands of money hungry people, but there may be some liability. If a genetic sequencing test reads the code wrong, a person could be at risk for being treated for the wrong diseases or illnesses. This could potentially lead to malpractice suits. Patients could undergo a series of treatment that is specific to one certain disease that their DNA says that they have. However, it could be a misdiagnosis. Since there are some diseases that are so very rare, there could be some chromosomes that have cellular information within them that has not yet been identified and are therefore, not treatable, curable or possible to diagnose simply because there is no knowledge about these rare disorders. Conclusion When it comes to personalized medicine and treatments, it can be helpful to know what genetics to pinpoint to diagnose a patient and to treat them. They are given special care that is specific to their needs. However, there are many ethical, legal, and social issues that must be given thought before diving in to this new technology that could change a person’s life forever. References PBSNova Sub. (2014, February 26). PBS Nova S39E15 Cracking Your Genetic Code. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLoJBQlcj3A. Read More