So who should be allowed to view a person's genetic breakdown? Many people fear that even if genetic code is kept as disclosed information, the remote chance of it being leaked is a major fear, and rightfully so. Another problem that arises with this relates to the person whom the code belongs to. If you recieved information regarding what potentially could be a fatal medical problem in the future, how will that mentally affect the individual, their family, and their work?.
All science will inevitably show signs of uncertainity. Science is an ever-changing field, where new information demands reform to old fact. Another problem that is raised by HGP is its uncertainity. While 13 years of study has provided an immense amount of new information, inaccuracy when relaying the information could be fatal. False understanding of a persons genetic code could cause trauma for both the person and their entire family. If someone was told they have a genetic disorder that will be passed down to their child, the issues the soon to be parents will face would be nerve racking. Should they have the child, knowning that it will be born with the preemptive signs of the disorder? This morally causes a major dilemma with religion as well. Many would claim that this pre-determination of a child's health would be playing God, and any alteration to avoid that would be sacreligous. However, what if the genetic testing performed on the mother proved to be inaccurate? Then a women must live with the fact that she never had a child, in sheer fear of an inaccurate examination. Currently their are over 900 genetic tests that can be used to test for many common and rare diseases and disorders. Some of these include sickle cell, alzheimer's, cystic fibrosis, and huntington's disease.
While it is easy to see the negative in the HGP, there are many positives that are often overlooked. One of these relates heavily to agriculture.