The Ethical Concept Of Genetic Engineering - 1157 Words

This assignment will discuss the ethical concept of genetic engineering and how it demonstrates its relevance to midwifery professional practice and maternity care. Before analysing genetic engineering and looking at the arguments as to whether it is ethically right, an understanding of what the terms and lawful procedures mean should be determined. In order to construct this assignment, multiple resources were accessed. These resources included analysing books, both hard copies and electronically. Books are a logical source of information as they allow the reader to locate specific areas of study through the use of index and contents pages. Reputable web addresses were also used to locate relevant information that could be used within†¦show more content†¦Buxton and Turney (2007) argue that there is only one way of curing genetic disorders or diseases, and that is through the process of gene therapy, which is to replace the defective gene with a healthy copy. Any offspring that the carrier has in the future will be free from the gene, which on the bigger scale will effectively wipe out the disease. Doctors can now diagnose certain genetic defects in a fetus by studying samples of cells taken from the amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus (HFEA, n.d.). Rapp (1999) states that the process is called amniocentesis and is thought to have been first developed by German doctors in the 1980s to relieve pressure on the fetus. Genetic screening is usually offered when a family has a history of an inherited disorder or the mother is comparatively old. Amniocentesis is carried out from 10 weeks gestation and can identify certain genetic defects such as Down’s syndrome which can be detected directly as the additional chromosomes are easily seen, â€Å"it is also able to detect other chromosomal and fetal problems such as Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18, Fragile X and neural tube defects such as Spina Bifida† (Coulter, 2012). Milunksy (2004) observes that the use of amniocentesis increased dramatically in the 1950s as spectrophotometric analysis of bilirubin demonstrated its worthiness in monitoring fetuses with rhesus isoimmunisation. Genetic screening can be carried out on unborn