Ah yes, genetics. One of my favorite topics! Genes are a unit of heredity which we get from our parents and expresses our characteristics! Your genes determine things as noticeable as your height or the color of your eyes all the way to things you do not even realize, like your health.
To start off our genetics unit, my AP Biology class watched Cracking Your Genetic Code. The documentary discussed the ethics and the pros and cons of easily accessing your genetic information. The step to finding and encoding our genetic code is extremely revolutionary, but all good things have downsides. Understanding and knowing own genetic codes enable us to also determine the causes of health issues in one’s body or predict certain illnesses.
*Warning: SPOILERS ahead*
Within the documentary, there were real life examples of the benefits of encoding our genes. One example was on twins who wished they had their genes encoded earlier since they experienced severe cerebral palsy symptoms later in life. Determining our genetic codes earlier may sound revolutionary, but the documentary talked about how knowing and accessing this information earlier may disrupt life. Knowing information about increased risks of illnesses at an early age invades a child’s privacy. For instance, if parents were to access their child’s genetic information immediately after they were born, the parents may prevent their child from certain activities. The issue is that this information may save a life or interfere with one’s life.
As accessibility and cost of determining genetic information increases, privacy decreases. As our world continues to advance, we may not even need our social security numbers since our genetic information may take over to determine our identities. The documentary brought up a good point that if our information becomes more openly discussed, we may narrow our vision by only looking at genetics. People may start to question the genetics of other individuals, such as their partners to understand how their children could potentially be affected by their genes. Additionally, eugenics and designer babies will begin to rise in popularity if people continue to look solely at genetics. This is unethical because this may decrease genetic diversity, which is important to evolution.
Personally, I don’t know if I want to know my genetic information.
What do you think? Would you want to know your genetic information? Leave a comment below.
Citations
American Nurse Today. “Genetics in the Clinical Setting.” American Nurse Today, 16 Oct. 2019, http://www.americannursetoday.com/genetics-clinical-setting/.
“Cracking Your Genetic Code.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/cracking-your-genetic-code/.
Arabella Krystienne's AP Biology Blog 