Many medical advances are being made today in the area of genetics. One of the most talked about is prenatal genetic testing. The purpose of prenatal genetic testing is to obtain information on a baby's health before they are born. This new technology will definitely improve the quality of human life. Diseases will be diminished and through new advances some diseases might even be eliminated. Children will be at less risk to have major health problems in their lives adding positively to their life experience. Prenatal genetic testing will also affects society as a whole. Many people have a negative outlook on prenatal genetic testing but that is because they are not educated on the goals and actual applications of the technology. They feel that the technology may be abused. One fear is that insurance companies may obtain genetic records and deny service based on those records. But there are laws to protect people from such discrimination. People also fear that the means for genetically altering fetuses will soon be available. This technology is a long ways away if it is even obtainable. The morality of genetic testing is also being questioned but everyone is different and you cannot dictate what is moral for everyone in a democracy. Some religious extremists fear and avoid any modern medicine at all. The medical advances being made feasible by genetic testing are very exciting. It is possible for people with predispositions for genetic defects to know in advance if they will have a healthy child or not. If they find out there is a problem they can choose to terminate the pregnancy or they can prepare in advance for their child's special needs. There is even new technology called Ex Utero genetic testing. This test is performed on eggs fertilized through in vitro fertilization before they are even put in the mother's uterus. Understanding genes in the developing human will help doctors understand the nature of genetic diseases and m...
