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... oregon organs either, as they will soon serve no purpose. Improvements in the health field due to the HGP extend all the way down to the area of therapeutics. The project will allow pharmaceutical companies to produce more effective drugs, and doctors will be able to prescribe these drugs based on ones DNA. Medical records will include our complete genome and will allow for an accurate prediction by doctors as to our responses to certain drugs. These predictions by doctors will help to anticipate bad side effects from drugs and even target people who will do well with certain therapeutics.
This would help to save lives seeing that about 100, 000 people die each year from poor reactions to drugs, and millions of others have to withstand uncomfortable or even dangerous side effects (Speed 2). Geneticists will be able to identify parts of the genome that influence drug response and therefore dramatically reducing side effects and / or their severity. Imagine a world where drugs are picked especially for you, eliminating any costly side effects and even the suffering if a drug doesnt work well for you. Allergic reactions to drugs will be almost non-existent, allowing us the opportunity to get the most for our money from the prescriptions we spend so much on. These breakthroughs in therapeutics will positively affect almost everyone in society, as just about everybody takes prescription drugs in their lifetime. Additional areas in therapeutics will also see many changes for the better.
Almost every aspect involved in pharmaceutical medicines will see improvements, even the least obvious ones. The ability to determine drug dosage will no longer depend on weight and age but rather on ones genetics how well their body processes medicine and time taken to metabolize it (Human 1). Better vaccines will be developed using genetic materials (DNA or RNA) which will activate ones immune system but will not be able to cause infection. These vaccines promise to be very effective while being more inexpensive.
Overall health care is also expected to decrease due to the findings of the HGP. This decrease will be a direct result from many things such as: decreases in the number of unwanted drug reactions, the length of time people are on medications, and the number of medications one must take for proper effectiveness (Human 1). Although the HGP sounds like a dream come true, it is not without potential problems. One area that is of main concern has to do with who gets to have access to all of our genetic information, and why we shouldnt be allowed to be discriminated against because of that information. Apparently issues such as these are important to the government as well, seeing as they spend five percent of their 315 million dollars a year budget on taking care of these potential societal issues (Human). If issues such as this one are not addressed, we are setting ourselves up for disaster.
Insurance companies could deny health care to someone predisposed to certain diseases, or employers could hire their workers based on who is the most genetically healthy. The government, however, has already addressed many of these issues. For one, President Clinton has already signed an executive order prohibiting every federal department from using genetic information in any hiring or promotional action. Recommendations for future laws were released in a 1998 report in which the Clinton Administration guaranteed that the findings from the HGP will be used to improve health and not to discriminate on any level. These recommendations are: Employers should not require or request that employees or potential employees take a genetic test or provide genetic information as a condition of employment or benefits.
Employers should not use genetic information to discriminate against, limit, segregate, or classify employees in a way that would deprive them of employment opportunities. Employers should not obtain or disclose genetic information about employees or potential employees under most circumstances. (Human) Another major reason the HGP could cause some problems is that the practice of genetic enhancements could become very popular among the wealthy community. Brad Evenson, writer for the National Post, has indicated that it is a surprisingly short step from using gene therapy to treat medical defects to using it to improve an already healthy baby (34). It is scary to think what could turn out if people in society begin designing their own children. However, the fact that procedures such as these promise to be extremely costly brings a hope that this will never catch on. Jeffery Nike, professor of gynecology at the University of Western Ontario, promises that only the rich will have access to these possibilities (Evenson 36).
If it does become popular, however, people who choose to live natural lives, free from DNA adjusting or enhancing, could come to be treated with discrimination. What is most interesting to me about this is that Evenson states that our society could not survive without freaks (37). This is very interesting in that many great thinkers of this world were known to have suffered from many illnesses. Does that mean that they are freaks?
Wasnt it the great artist Vincent Van Gogh who cut off his own ear? Many people believed that even the great Albert Einstein suffered from depression. I believe that society will realize that genetic enhancements are far from perfection, but rather a step towards imperfection. Maybe Brad Evenson sums it up best by pondering that perhaps it is our flaws that draw us toward perfection (37). The future with the genetic map in hand has the opportunity to take mankind to a whole new level. The government has taken the right steps to help resolve the major issues surrounding the HGP, and an array of laws promise to be enacted by the time the HGP is completed.
The medical community will revolutionize its practice at an incredible rate, paving the way to healthier lives for all of us. No longer will we have to hope for a perfectly healthy baby, as doctors will have the technology to provide perfect health no matter what condition the baby is born into. The future for society will still be full of problems, as we are and probably always will be far from perfect. But with the HGP complete, we will be able to live healthier, fuller lives. We will be able to control our health, rather than describe it. Works Cited D Allegro, Joseph.
Genetics is the Future of Medicine. National Underwriter/Life and Health Financial Services 103. 51 (1999): 28. Evenson, Brad. Perfect Children Will No Longer Be an Oxymoron. National Post. Aug 2000: 34 - 37.
Hayden, Thomas. The Year We Control Our Destiny. Newsweek Dec 1999 -Feb 2000: 88 - 91. The Human Genome Project. Division of Extramural Research. 27 Feb. 2000 < web Feb 12, 2001 Human Genome Project Information. The Human Genome Program of the U.
S. Department of Energy. 17 Feb. 2000 < web Ridley, Matt. Genome. New York: Perennial, 1999.
Robertson, Jack. Gene Therapy Will Tame Todays Common Killers. Sacramento Business Journal 16. 42 (1999): 14 - 15. Speed Reading the Book of Life. Harvard Health Letter 25. 3 (2000): 7.
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Research essay sample on Potential Health Benefits Of The Human Genome Project
