Social Implications of Genetic Testing

Ethical and social implications of genetic testing for communication disorders.

UNLABELLED Advances in genetics and genomics have quickly led to clinical applications to human health which have far-reaching consequences at the individual and societal levels. These new technologies have allowed a better understanding of the genetic factors involved in a wide range of disorders. During the past decade, incredible progress has been made in the identification of genes involved...

Social and ethical implications of BRCA testing.

Oncologists are asked with increasing frequency to counsel their patients with respect to the medical, psychological and social repercussions of genetic testing for cancer susceptibility that may have been prescribed by physicians or carried out through direct-to-consumer tests. This article critically reviews the main ethical and social implications of BRCA testing, focusing on genetic respons...

Implications of genetic testing for health policy.

Hemochromatosis: clinical implications of genetic testing.

Hemochromatosis is one of the most common genetic diseases affecting Canadians of European ancestry. However, too often this disease is diagnosed in people who do not have it and is missed in those who do. By the time a diagnosis is made on the basis of symptoms, irreversible organ damage has often occurred. A missense mutation (the C282Y cysteine-to-tyrosine substitution) on chromosome 6 of th...

MTHFR genetic testing: Controversy and clinical implications.

BACKGROUND A polymorphism is a variant within a gene that does not necessarily affect its function, unlike a pathogenic mutation. Genetic testing for two common polymorphisms in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene (MTHFR), 677C>T and 1298A>C, is being accessed by general practitioners (GPs) and alternative medicine practitioners (based on in-house records from referrals), and promoted ...