The evolution of medicine and technology is beneficial for the human race, yet this discovery process brings new challenges that are intriguing on so many levels. Take the human genome. Like the Internet, in some respects, new DNA procedures have enabled people to quickly access important information that was previously unattainable. These new DNA tests now unveil evidence of incest.
There’s a CSI-type news story every day. Innocent convicts are released after spending half their lives in jail, and 80-year-old murderers are being convicted of crimes that went unprosecuted for decades – all based on DNA evidence.
Now, advances in DNA testing, as well as the affordability of some basic DNA tests, mean that more medical facilities must draft ethics policies that address things such as incest among “first-degree” familial relationships. This classification denotes father-daughter, mother-son and brother-sister relationships.
An open letter from doctors at the Baylor College of Medicine, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, brings the issue of incest to the forefront. The doctors have urged the medical community to address the issue of incest head on by drafting ethics policies that clearly define how facilities will handle the matter when discovered through DNA testing.
DNA tests called single nucleotide polymorphism-based arrays are now being used in 20 to 30 medical facilities in the U.S., according to the Houston Chronicle. These tests allow doctors to scan a child’s genome in order to pinpoint the genes that may cause a certain disability. The tests clearly show extra or missing copies of genes. When a child has 25 percent of the same DNA as a relative, this presents unmistakable evidence that a child was conceived through “first-degree” incest.
Doctors, of course, are obliged to report evidence of child abuse, and incest could fall into that realm of activity. In many cases, cases of incest have been brought out into the open before DNA testing revealed the activity. A high percentage of these occurrences have already been handled by the legal system. But in other cases, the DNA testing may bring incest to light for the first time. The tough task for the medical community is to ensure that patient privacy is not breached by the reporting of unlawful conduct.
Although incest is illegal, some states such as Texas consider it to be a misdemeanor. The medical community reports that a child born through incest has a developmental disability about 50 percent of the time. Children who have disabilities are being DNA tested more and more often, and this trend will only continue. Hence the open letter by the Baylor College of Medicine doctors.
Obviously, an incest investigation is something that needs to be taken very seriously, and it deeply affects all subjects involved. But then again, DNA does not lie. How the reporting process and investigation are handled is the topic of debate. This procedure will be the topic of an official opinion letter soon to be released by the Baylor College of Medicine doctors.
In short, medical ethics committees have some work in front of them. Although doctors admit that the reality of incest puts people on edge, they seem to agree that DNA testing is a beneficial procedure that can help define a variety of causalities. Incest is one of these, and a written set of guidelines will help medical facilities take appropriate action when necessary.
We specialize in providing our over 1,000,000 customers with relevant product and condition information created by our professional editorial staff which includes our team of medical writers, medical practitioners, and health educators. eDrugStore.com Staff on Facebook