Summary
While this type of practice has become increasingly common, it’s not yet led to a health-care revolution.
“I don’t think genetic testing has caused a substantial decrease in disease,” says Hank Greely, a bioethicist at Stanford University.
However, it has been a powerful weapon in some situations.
First, some genetic disease has been prevented, in a sense, because of prenatal testing and testing related to in vitro fertilization, Greely says. Tay-Sachs disease, a devastating illness that is usually lethal in childhood, was once common among people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. It is much rarer now, thanks to genetic testing. (In some Orthodox communities, couples whose pairing might lead to the disease are even dissuaded from marrying.)
Early identification and prompt treatment of genetic diseases have also been able to alleviate suffering. The best example of this is phenylketonuria, a rare disorder that causes an amino acid called phenylalanine to build up, according to Greely.
“If babies with this genetic condition are identified early and put on a special diet, they are more or less normal,” he says. “Otherwise, they have a severe intellectual deficiency. This early, post-natal genetic testing has saved thousands of brains.”
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