The Pros And Cons Of Genetic Testing

Words: 896
Pages: 4

Have you ever heard of the term genetics? How about genetic testing? If you haven’t even a clue as to what these two terms mean, I’ll dive into it with a brief summary. Genetics itself is the study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics, while genetic testing is the sequencing of human DNA in order to discover any genetic differences, anomalies, or mutations that may prove to be pathological. Genetic testing is usually conducted by a medical professional, such as a genetic counselor, though that isn’t the case anymore. Direct-to-consumer genetic testing, which is offered by several different companies, doesn’t require any sort of medical professional and can be performed by a single person. There is of course other benefits to this type of genetic testing, though there are more positives if you were to choose to go to a medical professional for genetic testing. Within this essay, I’ll be talking about the reasons as to why medical professionals should be required for all genetic testing instead of letting consumers take the risky option of a direct-to-consumer genetic test. …show more content…
The whole ordeal can be difficult for someone emotionally and can also cause some practical difficulties. If your taking your own direct-to-consumer genetic test, you don't really have a medical professional there to help you understand the actual results of the test. Medical professionals can actually provide full genetic counselling as to what the results of your genetic tests actually mean (Society). Rather than sitting there, not really knowing what to expect in some random genetic test you purchased, a medical professional can provide all the info that you needed to know with no hassle and no problems, something that isn’t really provided by direct-to-consumer genetic