Bioethics.net

May 15, 2012

In Choosing a Sperm Donor, a Roll of the Genetic Dice (New York Times)

In households across the country, children conceived with donated sperm are struggling with serious genetic conditions inherited from men they have never met. The illnesses include heart defects, spinal muscular atrophy, neurofibromatosis type 1 and fragile X syndrome, the most common form of mental retardation in boys, among many others. Hundreds of cases have been documented, but it is likely there are thousands more, according to Wendy Kramer, founder of the Donor Sibling Registry, a Web site she started to help connect families with children who are offspring of the same sperm donor.

May 14, 2012

College or Funeral Is Mother’s Wish Denied on DNA Results (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Camilla Grondahl asked genetics researcher Gholson Lyon a simple, heartbreaking question: Was she carrying a lethal gene that might kill her unborn baby? Grondahl, 29, didn’t want to terminate her pregnancy, which began in 2010. She just wanted to know what the scientist knew. “It was just more stress and worry while I was waiting for my baby to be born,” Grondahl recalled. “What do you plan for? Do you plan for him going to college or for a funeral?” Lyon said he couldn’t tell her.

May 14, 2012

Focus Groups Share Thoughts on Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Tests (red Orbit)

Researchers at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine have found that patients see both benefits and risks from direct-to-consumer genetic tests. Dr. Katherine Wasson, a specialist on the ethics of direct-to-consumer genetic tests, and colleagues conducted the experiment. The study, published in the American Journal of Bioethics Primary Research, showed that the patients were concerned about the end game of the genetic test results.

May 11, 2012

Patients see benefits and risks to direct-to-consumer genetics tests (Medical Express)

Patients see potential benefits from direct-to-consumer genetic testing, but are also concerned about how test results will be used, and generally are unwilling to pay more than $10 or $20 for them, according to focus groups conducted by researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

May 02, 2012

Ethics: Withhold Genetic Test Results if Mother Will Abort? (Medscape)

Can a doctor lie about the results of a genetic test if he or she thinks that they might lead to an abortion? The State of Arizona is considering a law that might make it possible to make the answer to that question “yes.” They are passing a law that says they are not going to accept lawsuits for wrongful births. Wrongful birth lawsuits basically say that if a doctor doesn’t offer a test, doesn’t give the results of a test, or gives them inaccurately, the doctor still can’t be sued for making that kind of decision.

Apr 30, 2012

Will Gattaca Come True? (Slate)

The potential benefits of NIPD are many: elimination of the risks associated with amniocentesis, the replacement of aggravating probabilities with accurate information, and more time for expectant parents to make difficult decisions. But because insurance providers have an incentive to cover them, fetal DNA tests stand to be introduced before we have time to consider the slew of ethical and political challenges they will introduce.

Apr 23, 2012

Genetic testing and disease: Would you want to know? (USA Today)

“Know thyself” has taken on a scientific meaning for a growing number of people who, like Kristen, want a crystal ball to look into their DNA. Ever since the Human Genome Project identified the 20,000 to 25,000 genes in 2003, researchers have continued to identify the ones that play roles in diseases, from Alzheimer’s to type 2 diabetes to certain types of cancer. Though lifestyle and environment are big pieces of the puzzle, consider this: Genetic tests could become part of standard care for everyone and revolutionize the way medicine is practiced, proponents say.

Apr 04, 2012

N.Y. Preschool Starts DNA Testing For Admission (NPR)

More than 12,000 applications pour into Porsafillo Pre for just 32 spots a year. This makes it  the most competitive preschool in the United States. And in a bid to weed out the kids who have no chance, the school decided to require a DNA test for all applicants. #bioethics #genetics

Apr 04, 2012

Gene Maps Are No Cure-All (Wall Street Journal)

A new study warns that scientists can’t predict most diseases for most people by mapping their genomes, raising a flag about a nascent technology that has been expected to ring in an era of tailored treatments. Mapping a person’s genome, or genetic blueprint, “is not a crystal ball,” said Bert Vogelstein, co-author of the study and professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. “And this is a reality check.”

Apr 03, 2012

Study Says DNA’s Power to Predict Illness Is Limited (NY Times)