This past Friday I watched a documentary about cracking the code of life, DNA. The documentary itself focused on the idea that the human genome presents the answers to most of life’s mysteries and that by doing full DNA sequencing we can potentially save the lives of thousands of people. However, it also raises many ethical questions. Will genomics eventually lead to designer children? Is it reckless to give people access to their entire genomes? What will happen if insurance companies or employers find something undesirable in an applicants genome? All of these are extremely valid questions that should be addressed before attempting to reach an answer on whether or not genomics is practical and ethical. However, one should not ignore the amazing medical potential genomics and DNA sequencing has.

In the documentary, it they discuss how DNA sequencing has helped saved the lives of many, including two twins born with health issues. Standard medical diagnoses could not help the children and had they not underwent DNA sequencing it is very possible they would have died by now. However, DNA sequencing allowed scientists and doctors to find irregular letters in their genetic pattern. By prescribing medicine to correct this irregularity the twins eventually saw an incredible change eventually becoming fully fledged healthy adults. All of this would have been impossible without genomics and thus for this reason I believe that genomics is extremely beneficial. However, as mentioned I believe it also has some drawbacks.

In the case of those with Huntington’s disease there is nothing that can be done even if they are found to have the gene linked to the disease. It is cases like these that make me question whether or not genomics is really ethical. If one discovers that they have the gene then they are left with no choice but to wait until the symptoms begin to appear. One could argue that this would allow the person to go out and enjoy life as much as possible until that time, but on the other hand it could send a person into a very deep depression. Additionally, there are many other genes that could potentially “increase” a persons risk for a certain disease which could effect both their mental health as well as their job and insurance opportunities if this data was to fall into the wrong hands.

Overall, the documentary really made me question something for the first time in a while. Typically when you see something in the news you might be influenced to think one way or the other, but after a few minutes you will probably forget all about it. In this case I feel as though the documentary laid out both the pros and cons of genomics and presented it in such a way that forces the topic to remain on your mind. I believe that due to this the documentary is extremely effective at conveying the information it wants people to know but also allows for the topic to enter into the front lines of discussion by providing people with the opportunity to make up their own opinions after having heard facts for both sides of the argument.