Genetic Testing Essay

Prenatal genetic testing can prove useful to many expectant mothers under certain conditions. For example, those with inherited illnesses, those with children born with severe defects, those who are high risk of delivering a still born, and women over the age of 34 all present as likely candidates for prenatal genetic testing. It can help them identify what may be wrong with the fetus and what steps to take if something is found. However, pregnant women not at risk for such problems stand not to benefit from prenatal genetic testing as the procedure can be unsafe for the fetus and mother and is not entirely accurate.



Ethos means persuading a person through the persuader's credibility or character. Prenatal genetic testing is performed by a qualified doctor who has experience, and a history of formal education. By having a qualified doctor perform the procedure, it may result in a positive outcome in terms of understanding what genetic conditions the baby may have.



Logos appeals to logic and so prenatal genetic testing may be useful to those inherited an illness or have family members with an inherited illness. It would seem that those with inherited genetic disorders who have high risk pregnancies would be the best candidates for prenatal genetic testing as it could help them identify any problems before the expectant mother gives birth.



Pathos is an emotional appeal and would be interpreted as guilt over not providing the best options for the mother and fetus in terms of early awareness of a condition. The opposite can be said with fear generated from performing such a procedure if it is not necessary and then experiencing complications during pregnancy.



Thesis: Prenatal genetic screening has grown in popularity as a choice for pregnant women in the United States. However, such procedure must only be used for high-risk pregnancies and for those with inherited genetic disorders due to the inaccuracy of both non-invasive and invasive procedures producing a greater risk of pregnancy complications and pre-term labor.



Prenatal genetic testing may not be as accurate as desired and can elevate the risk of preterm labor (Cook-Deegan, Conley, Evans, & Vorhaus, 2012).



Prenatal genetic testing allows the expectant mother to see if the fetus is at high or low risk of developing birth defects or having chromosomal abnormality (Roberts & Ostergren, 2013).



So many women have high risk pregnancies. The numbers are climbing due to the age of birth growing to age 40 or older and obesity becoming a prevalent health problem (Science, 2014).



The main question revolves around the recent innovations in prenatal genetic testing. Have any recent innovations led to an increase in accuracy? If so, this may provide some difficult in constructing an argument based on inaccuracy.



Week 2: Discussion 2:



Recent innovations in genetic testing has led some to believe it can be used more than it has in the past. "Genomic technologies are reaching the point of being able to detect genetic variation in patients at high accuracy and reduced cost, offering the promise of fundamentally altering medicine" (Katsanis & Katsanis, 2013, p. 415). However, there still exists ambiguity as it relates to genome-wide data and the lack of access certain regions across the globe have when it comes to next-generation sequencing abilities. That is why it is important to examine the range of methods and strategies available now including developing approaches in clinical molecular diagnostics to get a full picture of the potential and feasibility…