The book Your Genes, Your Choices by Catherine Baker describes the Human Genome Project and the scientific principles, and the ethical, social and legal issues which arise from the project.
The book was written as Literacy and Science in Health project for American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the project was funded by United States Department of Energy.
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The book has eight chapters describing impact science has on the progress of human beings.
According to Backer (1999), science can impact both simple and complex decisions ranging from the grocery store to shop, to family health choices, and complex decisions such as the reproduction.
In the book Your Genes, Your Choices, I found Chapter Eight being more interesting where it describes ways science can affect the relationship between two lovers, where one comprehends the value of undertaking a test which will establish their gene composition while the other does not find it essential leading to disagreements.
The main characters in the chapter are Carlos and Mollie who want to have children, but they are stuck in making a decision to start a family where according to Carols, Mollie should take a test which will depict whether she is a carrier of cystic fibrosis (CF), but Mollie does find essence in the idea.
According to the author, people who have cystic fibrosis tend to have a mutation in one of their genes or more.
The presence of these mutations has a major impact on the reproduction process where they offer imperfect instructions relating to the production of proteins which are essential in the movement of salts in the human body.
The central result when children have CF includes the baby’s lungs becoming clogged with mucus hence making it difficult for the patient to breathe.
Also, CF results in the development of a digestion problem because the body finds the digestion process impossible, while in the worst case scenario the disease can result in death.
The reason Carlos want Mollie to take the test is his family has CF history and the suffering he saw his brother experience was too much hence forcing him to take early precautions through getting his partner tested before they settle for children.
According to the author, Carlos parents underwent hardship trying to provide health care to a child that they were sure may not make it to adulthood, and when he decided to undertake the test, Carlos found out that he was a carrier.
According to Baker (199), cystic fibrosis (CF) is a recessive disorder, meaning the only way children can be affected by the disease is if they inherit the mutated gene from the mother and the father.
Therefore, Mollie needs to be tested to identify whether she is a carrier of cystic fibrosis (CF) and continue with a test on fetus once she is pregnant to ensure the unborn child does not have two cystic fibrosis (CF) genes.
The consequences of having a baby with the diseases are far worse when compared to testing the mutating genes which contribute to cystic fibrosis (CF) disorder.
Baker (1999) claim that things have changed when it comes to the surprise and happy cry during birth, where parents never used to know their children sex for the first time was taken by prenatal tests which are undertaken before the baby is born.
The scientific inventions in the reproduction industry have offer parent an opportunity to have information regarding their children, and this is Carlos idea where he wanted a test done to understand the state of their fetus.
There are specific events that trigger the need to have the prenatal test done to avoid risks of disorders associated with gene mutation among other issues.
Although it is important for both parents to take the test, there are certain categories of parents who need the test more than others do.
First, the tests are more critical if either family has a history of genetic disorders because any baby could end up with the same condition due to a new mutation.
Secondly, prenatal testing becomes important for couples where the mother is older mothers because of the higher chances of having children with damaged genes.
Also, prenatal testing is more advisable when there are problems with early pregnancies.
According to the book, there are different types of prenatal tests that can be undertaken during pregnancy to identify any genetic disorders.
One type of the most commonly used prenatal tests today include alpha-fetoprotein test (AFP).
Using the test, a sample of the mother’s blood is used to evaluate the range of special protein that is being produced by the fetus, where too much or too little proteins are being produced it is a clear indication that the genes are not working appropriately.
Other prenatal tests that can be used to check fetal cells during pregnancy include identifying the presence of enzymes.
According to Baker (1999), enzymes are proteins that trigger different activities in human body cells; hence, failure to undertake this process effectively is related to genetic disorders.
Other prenatal tests described in the chapter include ultrasound imaging, which uses sound waves, chorionic villus sampling used to check defects in the chromosomes among others.
Reproductive Technology
The rising numbers of techniques usable in prenatal testing can be associated with advancement in medically assisted ways of making babies.
According to the author, the term reproductive technology is used to mean assisting people with needs of conceiving children.
One of the most used reproductive technologies is artificial insemination, where sperm samples are taken from the man, cleaned using special techniques, and then injected into the partner's uterus.
When artificial insemination technique is used, couples may decide to become pregnant using sperm from other donors if the couple is carrying mutated disorder which may result in dominant disorder.
In vitro fertilization commonly known as “test tube babies” although the process does not involve test tubes as the name suggests, a minor operation in conducted where eggs are harvested from the women and mixed with the sperms from male then the eggs are implanted in the woman uterus where one of the eggs grow into a fetus.
According to the author, prenatal testing and reproductive technology have presented an opportunity to become parents of healthy children.
However, the ability to make a choice demand the involved partners make the decision together, to avoid issues being faced by Carlos and Mollie today.
Looking at Carlos and Mollie case, it is clear that Carlos does not want his children to inherit cystic fibrosis (CF) which is common among the white babies where at least one out of 2, 500 babies in this race are born with the condition.
Also, science has provided couples appropriate plans to get pregnant with various technologies and tests to ensure they are aware of their genes formation, which play a significant role in the development of genetic disorders to make healthy babies.
According to the book, having children with genetic disorders including cystic fibrosis (CF) if these reproductive technologies and testing methods are utilized effectively is one in four.
If Carlos and Mollie undertake the test, they will have more decisions to make including whether to continue with the pregnancy and have a baby together, undertake an abortion or even look for other partners with low risks of having children with the genetic disorder.
Complications
According to Baker (1999), diverse factors have the capability of complicating the decision that Carlos and Mollie need to make regarding their reproduction.
For example, if Mollie agree on taking the test and the test results are positive, they might decide to go ahead have a baby using in vitro fertilization method, but they will still have to face the issues of cost where the procedure may take consume thousands of dollars, and they may not be covered by health insurance, and also, they must be ready to invest a lot of time because the process has high chances of failing.
However, due to challenges facing couples when making this decision, medical advice have offered different options for parents suspecting CF disorder and other genetic disorders just like Carlos and Mollie.
In future, the genetic testing is expected to depict other features of the child hence offering parents endless choices when making the decision.
Mollie Needs Prenatal Testing
Chapter 8 of the book Your Genes, Your Choices has depicted two sides of a reproduction case. The individual involved in the case are Mollie, who is the female partner and Carlos who is the Male partner in the relationship. Using the couple, Baker has managed to describe cystic fibrosis (CF), including its causes, and effects on children health. The author has also offered a detailed analysis of the tests and technologies that have been developed using related scientific innovations understand their formation of a gene which plays a significant role in the formation of genetic disorders during pregnancy (Inhorn, 2015). Therefore, looking at Carlos family health history and his cystic fibrosis (CF) test, it is clear that Mollie needs to undertake the test because, Carlos already has the mutated genes, meaning if Mollie tests positive or negative, they will have opportunity to make other choices are depicted on the paper relating to the health of their baby.
For example, the author has offered different reproductive tests that the couple can use if both have mutated genes which contribute to cystic fibrosis (CF) disorder, but without the information, they cannot take any of these options hence exposing the child to genetic disorders. Mollie needs to understand the pain and suffering she will expose to her children as if she fails to undertake the test which offers her more opportunity to have a healthy baby. Additionally, Carlos needs to help Mollie in making the decision to undertake to take the test due to his previous experience with a brother who had cystic fibrosis (CF) disorder resulting into a major pain in the family (Inhorn, 2015). Also, being a young couple, Mollie getting tested will help the couple identify the most effective health insurance to help them manage their future health because some of the reproduction activities are expensive to undertake without a reliable health insurance.
Works Cited
Baker, Catherine. (1999). Your genes, your choices . Washington: American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved from http://ehrweb.aaas.org/ehr/books/4_carlos.html
Inhorn, M. C., & Patrizio, P. (2015). Infertility around the globe: new thinking on gender, reproductive technologies and global movements in the 21st century. Human reproduction update , 21 (4), 411-426.
