Societal Interventions in Genetic Diseases:
Genetic diseases are among the most common diseases that occur or affect a huge portion of the world's population. The main cause of the diseases is attributed to the mutations in genes that are fundamental for the usual functioning of the organism's cells. Following the mutation of a gene, the encoded protein fails to function properly and certain cellular processes are likely to go skewed resulting in genetic diseases. Due to their significant impact on the world's population, genetic diseases have profound effects at the individual, family, and societal levels. However, the effect of the diseases is largely experienced at the individual level because humans have genes similar to other living organisms.
As a result of the effect of genetic diseases on the three basic facets of a community or society, various interventions have been adopted to deal with the increasing problem. Notably, most of these interventions are scientific advances or measures whose application may not only be unfamiliar or frightening. Moreover, several interventions or applications continue to evolve in various parts of the globe in order...
The ongoing evolution of these interventions originate from the fact that researchers continue to discover more regarding the role of genes in common disorders (Scacheri, n.d.).
One of the most common societal intervention measures in genetic diseases that is used worldwide including in the United States and the United Kingdom is genetic screening whose principle is based on the binding of a query to the DNA molecule of the individual being screened (Samem, n.d.). In this procedure, the query used is commonly a single stranded DNA that binds to the test sample as matching DNA nucleotide sequences bind to one another.
As one of the major societal interventions in genetic diseases, there are two major types of genetic screening i.e. The screening for unborn babies and the screening of children and adults. For children and adults, this intervention is carried out to confirm the possibility of whether the individual has mutated genes of particular characteristics or disease and to test adults in order to determine the possibility of their children being at risk of certain disease. The screening of unborn babies is known…
