When the genome project completes, surely it will bring great progresses in medicine, biotechnology, biochemistry and many other fields. However it is also viewed that it will cause various ethical problems as well. In this page, various ethical problems that is arising from the Human Genome Project will be introduced. What do you think about these problems?
*Who Owns Our Genome Information?
After the human genome project completes, gene information of individuals will probably eventually become able to be deciphered too. This will have great effects in preventing and curing diseases, but will also bring many ethical problems as well. Should gene information of individuals be open to public? Especially the usage by insurers, employers, your bride or groom, court lawyers and judges, school and army concerners for decision making is being argued over. To use gene information in those cases may lead to unfair and unnecessary discrimination.
Another point is, how much power does gene information posses? Is it an effective and convincing source to people? The value of this information is still uncertain.
Being able to check our own gene information means that the potential diseases and defeicient genes will become known. Should this test really be done, and should the defects be told to the patient?
With this technology, prescreening babies becomes possible too. So the parents are able to know whether their child carries any kind of disease or disability, defecient genes. In this case, does the parents have the right to have abortions? This prescreening test is already being used, and in some countries, all pregnant women are obliged to take these tests. However at present, there are no common or definite regulations towards this. How each nation copes with this problem will effect the views towards this issue.
As technologies develop even further, not only prescreening, but predetermining babies will become able to be done. Starting from the baby's sex, color of skin, hair, and eyes, height, weight, intelligence, and athletic abilities will all become able to be chosen by the parents. It is also possible to make them free from diseases and disabilities. Babies born this way, are called designer babies. Should this really be done?
*Patents
Medicine companies are competing to claim as many patents as possible for their own company so they could monopolize the profit. However it is only the identifying they are doing, and the functions of those genes are put off to be figured out later. Although in these cases patents were not given out after all, it is a fact that there are certain genes such as insulin and iterferon, that have been identified there gene sequences and its purpose and have recieved patents. The ethical question is, should patents be given out for those genes, which we all have within ourselves?
As seen in these examples, deciphering genome sequences have demerits within
the many merits it will bring. The important thing is for each person to understand
and have responsibility towards genome datas, and to use them in a properly
and wisely.