The DNA Age Essays Example

Amy Harmon (2008) in the article “Taking a peek at the Experts’ Genetic Secrets,” talks of the issues related to the human DNA details in the society. Harmon claims that there are chances of inheriting risky genes. Some people want the details on their genes kept secret. The Harvard University medical school had begun the project with 10 volunteers and hoped to expand it to 100,000 with all participants required to make public all genetic details about them about medical history, allergies, ethnicity, etc. However, with the law not allowing making such details public, and some people feeling that it is not the right time to do so since there is still stigma associated with such information, it would be wrong to make the details public, at least for now. Further, such information may be used negatively by potential suitors to the disadvantage of the people due to the many errors in the data. I believe that these fears are genuine in the current state of affairs, but may not be the case in future. It is advisable that before marriage, couples go for medical checkups and this ought to include testing the risks to genetic disorders. The main aim is to protect one, and the children from some potentially bad disorders, and diseases.
As the author notes, there is a cost to keeping genetic information secret since one does not take necessary steps to stop one from being affected. I believe that there are no enough grounds to keep such information secret especially between couples. However, opening all the information to the general public renders them vulnerable to stigma, isolation, and may hurt one in many ways. It is possible for people to have such details on an online database, but accessible to those at risk of suffering from the risks associated with each person, such as ones children, and other family members.

References

Amy Harmon (2008, October 19). Taking a peek at the Experts’ Genetic Secrets. The New York Times. Retrieved on February 23, 2015 from <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/us/20gene.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&ref=topics >