The Diagnosis of the Times column of the Catholic Peace Weekly gives the readers some changes in the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare by a professor at the Catholic University Department of Life.
On
March 2, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced its ambition to
become a global leader by changes in regulations in seven new
bio-health industries. The seven items are new medical devices, new essential medicines, digital healthcare, regenerative treatments, advanced pharmaceutical, genetic testing,
brain and mechanical interfaces, devices and infrastructure that connect
the brain and computers to enable interaction.
A week later, the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that it would expand the items of embryonic and fetal genetic testing in seven key areas and push ahead with it scheduled for June this year. However, it is questionable why genetic testing is a new field of bio-health industry. According to the relevant ministries, they are adjusting the scope of genetic testing that is currently prohibited or restricted in order to implement genetic testing that reflects the development of science and technology, but the reason for this is not clear. Currently,
there are a total of 137 genetic diseases that can be legally tested on
embryos or fetuses (announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on
March 7, 2022). However, genetic testing on embryos and fetuses is
mostly not for treatment. First of all, genetic testing conducted on
embryos selects embryos eugenically, so unselected embryos
are destroyed or used in experiments for genetic research. In the case
of prenatal diagnosis performed on a fetus, most of them have the
purpose of abortion rather than treatment. But now that science and
technology have advanced, what does it mean to expand the scope of
genetic testing? Are they trying to screen embryos and fetuses with
stricter standards?
A couple had a baby after a long wait. The couple, were recommended to take a prenatal diagnostic test at the hospital and found out that their child had a genetic disease, and seriously considered abortion, but eventually gave birth with deep faith. The child was normal. Throughout the pregnancy, the couple reportedly had a hard time. However, if you had an abortion, you would not have known that there was an error in the test. This is because the hospital does not have to take any responsibility after recommending a prenatal diagnosis and notifying parents that the fetus has a genetic disease.
In fact, most genetic modifications are very minute, causing no visible modifications to the chromosome structure. In addition, genetic testing alone cannot reveal the presence of a genetic disease. Our body's genes are contained in DNA, but genetic diseases are expressed when the genes are converted into proteins. However, the process of gene expression into protein is very sophisticated and influenced by various factors.
The total length of DNA that each of us has throughout our bodies is about 20 trillion meters. Among them, the portion corresponding to the gene is about 2%, and more than 80% perform a switch function to control gene expression. The fact that more than 80% of these 2% are switches means that our body is very careful about gene expression. And the switch is regulated in response to various environments.
A week later, the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that it would expand the items of embryonic and fetal genetic testing in seven key areas and push ahead with it scheduled for June this year. However, it is questionable why genetic testing is a new field of bio-health industry. According to the relevant ministries, they are adjusting the scope of genetic testing that is currently prohibited or restricted in order to implement genetic testing that reflects the development of science and technology, but the reason for this is not clear.
A couple had a baby after a long wait. The couple, were recommended to take a prenatal diagnostic test at the hospital and found out that their child had a genetic disease, and seriously considered abortion, but eventually gave birth with deep faith. The child was normal. Throughout the pregnancy, the couple reportedly had a hard time. However, if you had an abortion, you would not have known that there was an error in the test. This is because the hospital does not have to take any responsibility after recommending a prenatal diagnosis and notifying parents that the fetus has a genetic disease.
In fact, most genetic modifications are very minute, causing no visible modifications to the chromosome structure. In addition, genetic testing alone cannot reveal the presence of a genetic disease. Our body's genes are contained in DNA, but genetic diseases are expressed when the genes are converted into proteins. However, the process of gene expression into protein is very sophisticated and influenced by various factors.
The total length of DNA that each of us has throughout our bodies is about 20 trillion meters. Among them, the portion corresponding to the gene is about 2%, and more than 80% perform a switch function to control gene expression. The fact that more than 80% of these 2% are switches means that our body is very careful about gene expression. And the switch is regulated in response to various environments.
In addition, because genes can be expressed by interactions of various genes, different results can be derived from the same genetic information. In other words, genes are expressed as DNA interacts with the environment. It is very dangerous to ignore this fact and think that every thing is determined by genes.
But are the relevant ministries trying to spread the idea that everything is determined by genes by expanding the scope of genetic testing of embryos and fetuses? Do the results minimize and take life lightly and discriminates against human life with genetic information? It seems that the Ministry of Health and Welfare needs deep policy reflection to see if it is preoccupied with the idea that everything scientifically and technologically possible should be applied.
But are the relevant ministries trying to spread the idea that everything is determined by genes by expanding the scope of genetic testing of embryos and fetuses? Do the results minimize and take life lightly and discriminates against human life with genetic information? It seems that the Ministry of Health and Welfare needs deep policy reflection to see if it is preoccupied with the idea that everything scientifically and technologically possible should be applied.
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