Essay on Genome: Dna and Human Genome Project

Submitted By elindholm
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I imagine myself walking into a clinic and giving a few swabs of the cells from inside my cheeks. Do I really want to find out what kinds of diseases i might develop in the future? Would I want to know my lineage? Would I want all of my information to be out there for someone to see? These are questions that would arise in my mind if I were to hand over swabs to have my genome mapped out. I would have to say that I don’t think I would want my genome mapped out. Although I do think it would be very interesting to find out what it would say about my life, I just think I would dwell too much on the information I would find out. Having your genome mapped out doesn’t show you a “sure” thing of developing diseases. It only shows a tendency to develop them and I would just go crazy thinking every little symptom could lead to that. Doing these tests don’t take into account lifestyle issues like smoking, drinking, or having an unhealthy diet. I would also be concerned as to who would have access to all the information. They say it is confidential and anonymous, but is it really? Who knows where they store the information or who has access to your DNA after that. It is a scary thought to think someone irresponsible would have access to all that information and what they could do with it. Although I wouldn’t want my information mapped out, I think that the Human Genome Project is wonderful. After all the research and mapping out DNA we have been able to find cures for diseases, people can find out if they are predisposed to certain diseases if they wish to know, and tests can be done during pregnancy to find out if a baby will have certain defects and may be able to resolve them before birth. These studies can help to improve livestock and agriculture by enhancing the quality of the food supply and animals and we may even be able to save endangered animal species. Wouldn’t you like to know where the human race began? Maybe one day we will be able to find out with all the technology and testing being done. Furthermore, DNA testing has great benefits of solving crimes with forensic testing. It could find a criminal or in some cases free someone who has been wrongfully convicted of a crime. DNA is used to identify victims or persons who are missing and can’t be identified by any other means. There are many great uses for DNA. On the other hand, there has been controversy surrounding the Human Genome Project. What are the ethical and social concerns? People worry about the use of the information that is
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