Genomic testing is the face of cutting-edge technology that is becoming increasingly important in promoting good health and detecting, treating, and even preventing diseases. It is currently playing an important role, e.g
- In the diagnosis of a disease in a patient with visible medical problems, such as cystic fibrosis.
- Confirmation of an at-risk patient before he or she develops the disease, such as colorectal cancer.
- Carrier testing in a person who has a family history of a particular disease, such as Huntington’s disease
- Drug efficacy testing, a type of precision medicine that improves your health by predicting whether a drug will benefit you and be safe for you to take,
- During pregnancy, a blood test is performed to detect abnormalities in your baby’s gene, such as Down syndrome, a condition whose chances increase with the mother’s age.
These genomic tests are now available outside of healthcare settings via commercial genomic testing labs e.g SelfDecode that promise personalized health recommendations.
However, there are numerous ethical concerns, such as the psychological impact of knowing the outcome of a currently incurable disease, the potential health consequences of false positive or false negative results, and the security of this sensitive “data.”
Thus, genomic testing, which is based on knowledge and data, is a weapon that can be used to benefit humanity, but it also has the potential to have far-reaching negative consequences if left unchecked.