We are becoming ever more closer to being able to predict the length of our lifespan - and what medical condition will probably end it. The world of genetics opened the tantalising prospect of genetic coding acting like the blueprint of how we as individuals are put together. Each year we are getting better in understanding that code and relating it to the diseases that ravage the human body.
Science has teased out the abnormalities that can greatly enhance the likelihood of a woman suffering breast or ovarian cancer, and where the risk is severe this has often led to a conscious decision to have both breasts and ovaries surgically removed as a safety measure. Now researchers are closing in on Alzheimer's disease and there is the prospect of being able to give warning ten or even twenty years in advance that it going to end that persons life.
It seems that eye retina changes may herald it's approach. A software programme is being developed that will analyse the retina to detect the abnormalities of colour perception, motion and peripheral vision that are a marker of coming Alzheimers.
Hopefully, early detection will enhance the prospects for better treatment - and perhaps one day a cure for the whole range of diseases that figure prominently on death certificates, but it does open an aspect of doubt in some people's minds. There are certainly a great number of people who would prefer not to know what until now have been life's greatest mystery - when it will end and what will be the cause ?
The problem is that this is knowledge that completely affects lifestyle. Some families decide not to have children if one or both have a genetic marker that may pass on a disease such as Hemophilia. There is a fear that if genetics becomes part of our medical history it may preclude us from getting life insurance cover or even being considered as an advanced student in scientific study. Why invest money in a person likely to die young when such information is available to a selection committee ?
When reading a subject's genetic code was first developed it cost thousands of dollars for each individual application. That has shrunk to a mere handful of dollars and there is the chance that in the near future it will become an automatic test whenever we consult a doctor or have dealings with a hospital - just as a blood test is the normal first reaction of the medical fraternity in encountering a new patient. Whether we like it or not, our genetic mysteries may soon automatically be taken into account when evaluating treatment.
That is probably now inevitable. Genetics is such a valuable tool that to ignore it would be impossible. It will quickly becomes the basis for advanced drug research and we can expect consequent breakthroughs that will alleviate suffering and bring some rampant diseases under control. The benefits will far outweight the loss of privacy we will be obliged to give up for the common good.
This presents an interesting challenge to the computer industry. It can be argued that our genetic blueprint is definitely our personal property and it should be each persons personal decision whether or not to share it with others. Ideally, access should only be able to be activated with our permission and this necessitates storage behind some sort of access block. The concept of PIN or password comes to mind, but so far these have fallen short of the technology devised by the "hacking industry "- which includes the best brains of government agencies.
Just as the brain power of two scientists cracked the mystery of the double helix, similar forensic thinking is needed to built a firewall between our genetics and the intrusion of others. It should be safe from intrusion - except when it's owner freely and willingly agrees to divulge it in his or her own interests.
It might be possible to create an exception code to over ride that discretion in certain circumstances - such as when a person presents at a hospital emergency ward unconcious and in dire medical condition. Perhaps that persons individual DNA could allow access - but only when a senior hospital emergency doctor has convinced a judge that proper treatment requires that action and the DNA enables the correct genetic coding to be identified.
That is probably beyond the scope of present computer technology, but either the advances of genetic testing bring with it unintended consequences because we are unable to safeguard that knowledge to it's individual owner, or it is a problem that those who are constantly advancing the computers capacity manage to solve.
Whether genetics becomes a blessing or a curse depends on the answer to that question !
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