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Genetic Testing and the Social Responsibility of Private Health Insurance Companies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Nancy S. Jecker
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Extract

Over the next 15 years, the government-funded human genome project will map and sequence each of the human cell’s estimated 100,000 genes. The project’s first fruits will be a vast quantity of information about genetic disease. This information will contribute to the design of quicker, cheaper and more accurate tests for identifying deleterious genes in individuals. Because genetic conditions are often regarded as “immutable, heritable taints that intrinsically implicate the bearer’s identity,” overly-deterministic interpretations of genetic information can readily distort genetic risk and become enshrined in institutional policies of social isolation and discrimination.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , Spring 1993 , pp. 109 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1993

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