Ethical Issues in Genomics

Abstract

Bioethics are usually associated with ethical issues that emerge from advances in medical sciences and practices. These basically include the ethical guidelines that should be followed during any research or medical procedure or practice that is to be conducted. The genetic material present in the form of DNA, which encodes guidelines for cellular life, is termed as genome. Genome of many organisms has been sequenced completely and with this genetic manipulation is possible. To characterize and manipulate the genome many techniques and procedures have been developed like Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and genome editing respectively. Some other techniques that come under the umbrella of functional genomics generate huge amount of data that can be characterized and manipulated according to the requirement. These new procedures and approaches have raised many ethical concerns and issues that are being addressed in this review.