WORK PLACE ETHICS

What Is The One Thing That Concerns You Most About Genetic Testing In The Work Place?



What Is The One Thing That Concerns You Most About Genetic Testing In The Work Place?

Introduction

Genetic tests can be used to identify the gene itself or to measure proteins coded by the gene (such as enzymes, receptors, and binding proteins). All genetic tests measure biological markers (biomarkers), which may include biochemical, molecular, genetic, immunological, physiological, or other signals of biological events. The biomarker currently used in occupational medicine is usually agent-specific, but advances in genetics may reveal nonspecific abnormalities that result in hyper susceptibility to multiple exposures. Traditional epidemiological approaches find associations between ambient exposure and clinical disease, without examining the “black box” between these two endpoints. Biomarkers may be used to measure the intermediate steps inside the “black box” that represent the progression from exposure to disease (Harmon, 2008).

Discussion

What is the one thing that concerns you most about genetic testing in the work place?

Genetic testing in the workplace poses risks to the physical and informational privacy of employees. Genetic testing may result in self-incrimination by enlightening information that is injurious to the employee's self-interest. If genetic tests are used to reassign workers to safer positions, it will be practically impossible to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the employee because the act of transfer itself will likely reveal the information (Harmon, 2008).

Biomarkers may be divided into three overlapping categories: exposure, response, and susceptibility. Unlike the traditional measurements of ambient exposures present in the environment, biomarkers of exposure allow measurement of internal dose of toxins inside the body at the molecular and cellular level. Biomarkers of response allow measurement of preclinical molecular and cellular effects before clinical signs and symptoms appear. Lastly, biomarkers of susceptibility measure interindividual metabolic variability that affects the likelihood ...