Genetic Discrimination Effects

Introduction

This paper will explore the notion of genetic discrimination and its effects on the population currently then the future. This topic is quite controversial because of the flexible laws that are put in place. It is also a controversial topic because of its age. The length that genetic discrimination has been a problem is significantly shorter than many issues that are discussed in this manner. The manner being that genetic discrimination is causing a separation of people and that could eventually lead to a “gene”ocide. While it could benefit the human race because of artificial selection, people should not be discriminated for their genetic makeup. It gives the population another reason to discriminate between groups of people.

The normal genotype would be considered a genome that does not contain any abnormal coding for any diseases and conditions. Drawing on the experiences reported by individuals that are affected by genetic discrimination, the experiences advocate a more expansive social understanding which does not require a person to be unhealthy to be at risk of genetic discrimination. According to Plümek:

The last two decades have seen growing awareness of the problematic impacts of genetic knowledge. Following general warnings of a “geneticization” (Lippman 1991) of medicine , “gene fetishism” (Haraway 1997, 142), a “doctrine of DNA” (Lewontin 1993), a “genetocracy” (Rifkin 1999), or the emergence of a “genetic underclass” (Nelkin and Tancredi 1994). In the early 1990s, the notion of “genetic discrimination” became established as a way of referring to unfair and borderline dehumanizing treatment of an individual on the basis of what is known or assumed about his or her genetic makeup. According to Somek, many people experience genetic discrimination in relation to insurance or

This includes marriage, employment, and insurance. Insurers have a strong interest in treating a genetic predisposition as a pre-existing condition and to exempt it from coverage. But this would be manifestly unfair since there is nothing that a person can do to avoid being affected by such a predisposition. The positions in the literature vary, nonetheless, with respect to the degree to which the differentiation between, and the use of, classifiers are deemed offensive, Somek (2003). Marital Discrimination is also a form of genetic discrimination. Psychologically humans tend to favor people with an affinity to carry traits that are more fit to the human development and reproduction. According to researchers from University College London, it’s because women perceive a deeper voice as a sign of a larger and stronger physicality; something that women are evolutionarily geared to find attractive. In females, the desired feature is wide “childbearing” hips that indicate an elevated level of estrogen. According to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a large percentage of men report feeling attracted to women who have a low waist-to-hip ratio. Both hormones testosterone and estrogen are needed for reproduction. This marital discrimination could also give heed to the fact that many couples opt for donor sex cells because one partner has a genetic disease that the