TY  - CHAP
M1  - Book, Section
TI  - Crosscutting Ethical Issues
A1  - McCarthy, Jeanette J.
A1  - Mendelsohn, Bryce A.
Y1  - 2016
N1  - 
T2  - Precision Medicine: A Guide to Genomics in Clinical Practice
AB  - Eugenics,  and  the  fear  thereof,  are  common  themes  in  ethical  discussions  of  genomic  technologies  during  reproduction  that  many  are  not  quite  proficient  at  discussing.  Leaving  aside  concerns  about  creating  super-people,  let  us  simply  consider  the  application  of  genetics  to  bona  fide  diseases.  Preventing  lethal  infections  is  hardly  controversial,  and  no  one  advocates  against  vaccination  on  the  grounds  that  people  with  Pertussis  represent  an  important  facet  of  humanity  we  would  be  poorer  without,  and  few  believe  we  should  “leave  nature  alone”  and  accept  serious  infections.  One  might  therefore  call  a  disease  a  disease,  regardless  of  the  cause,  and  would  say  a  distinction  between  infectious  and  inherited  disease  is  a  false  dichotomy.  But  perhaps  because  our  genes  make  us  who  we  are,  selecting  against  certain  genes,  no  matter  how  cruel  the  phenotype,  gives  many  the  sensation  that  humanity  is  meddling  where  it  shouldn't  with  feelings  that  are  not  aroused  by  other  fields  of  medicine.  Are  we  changing  who  we  are  rather  than  how  the  outside  world  affects  us?  The  greatest  challenge  of  the  coming  genomics  era,  when  we  can  sequence  and  even  change  our  genes  with  ease,  will  be  for  society  and  individuals  to  mature  in  our  understanding  of  basic  ideas  such  as  self,  family,  choice,  and  worth  as  we  wield  more  control  of  our  fundamental  biology  that  until  now  was  in  the  hands  of  evolution,  chance,  and  the  Divine.  
SN  - 
PB  - McGraw-Hill Education
CY  - New York, NY
Y2  - 2024/04/19
UR  - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1134735511
ER  -