Positive and negative sides of screening the human genome.

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Positive and negative sides of screening the human genome. After many years of hard work,a group of scientists finally discovered one of the most important secrets for human beings: the decodification of our genome. This scientific revolution, which looks like a story taken out of a science-fiction book, poses a number of doubts about what the future of the human race will be like and how this information will be used by science. In most of the cases, there seem to be positive and negative sides. The screening of the human genome is not an exception. On the one hand, there is a number of favourable possibilities available for patients who follow particular treatments. Some tests, for example, allow them to gauge their body's tolerance for certain drugs. In this way, doctors can prescribe different treatments for different patients, depending on their genetic profile. Apart from this, newer tests can help people from cancer prone families know whether they have inhereted the disease and how they will respond to various treatments. Moreover, it is believed that within thirty years there will be a gene-based therapy for most diseases. This means that defective genes will be replaced by healthy ones, allowing to cure a wide range of disorders. However, genetic engineering will not only be used for necessary and good purposes. Human beings have shown that they have no limits to scientific research and there seems to be always one more step to follow. Gene therapy, for example, may alter an individual's genetic blueprint. It is known which genes influence body size,intelligence and other traits. One may wonder what will happen if this treatment is applied on people who want to improve some aspects of their body or their personality. On the other hand, discrimination is always latent. Genetic tests predict mental illness, short stature, obesity and other

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