The routinisation of genomics and genetics: implications for ethical practices

Among bioethicists and members of the public, genetics is often regarded as unique in its ethical challenges. As medical researchers and clinicians increasingly combine genetic information with a range of non-genetic information in the study and clinical management of patients with common diseases,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medical ethics 2006-11, Vol.32 (11), p.635-638
Main Authors: Foster, M W, Royal, C D M, Sharp, R R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
AIDS
Analysis
Attitude to Health
Bioethical Issues
Bioethics
Clinical ethics
Culture
Diabetes
Ethics
Forecasts and trends
Genetic Determinism
Genetic diseases
Genetic Privacy
Genetic research
Genetic Research - ethics
Genetics
Genetics, Medical - ethics
Genomics
Genomics - ethics
Heart diseases
HIV
Human genetics
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
institutional review board
IRB
Market trend/market analysis
Medical ethics
Medical genetics
Medical research
Public Opinion
Studies
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Summary:Among bioethicists and members of the public, genetics is often regarded as unique in its ethical challenges. As medical researchers and clinicians increasingly combine genetic information with a range of non-genetic information in the study and clinical management of patients with common diseases, the unique ethical challenges attributed to genetics must be re-examined. A process of genetic routinisation that will have implications for research and clinical ethics, as well as for public conceptions of genetic information, is constituted by the emergence of new forms of genetic medicine, in which genetic information is interpreted in a multifactorial frame of reference. Although the integration of genetics in medical research and treatment may be a helpful corrective to the mistaken assumptions of genetic essentialism or determinism, the routinisation of genetics may have unintended consequences for the protection of genetic information, perceptions of non-genetic information and the loss of genetic research as a laboratory for exploring issues in research and clinical ethics. Consequently, new ethical challenges are presented by the increasing routinisation of genetic information in both biomedical and public spheres.
ISSN:0306-6800
1473-4257
DOI:10.1136/jme.2005.013532