The arguments for and against developing a “genetic fingerprint” profile for all members of society

Genetic fingerprinting has several major uses in our modern day society. The first is in the aid in forensics and criminology. Genetic fingerprinting can identify criminals who have left a crime scene, given that they have left some form of bodily fluid at that area. The advantage with this is that DNA fingerprinting works on the basis that each individual's DNA structure - or genetic make-up is unique and therefore cannot be forged, faked or altered in any way (, 02/03/2008). Therefore keeping a DNA profile for all members of society would be ideal in terms of reducing crime rates. However one could argue that not all individuals would want their DNA to be locked in a database. But again, by involving the whole population in the database, the issue of discrimination disappears. Another disadvantage would be forensic scientists might attempt to use retrieved DNA to discover a person's ethnicity, hair or eye colour, when the police have no clear suspect in mind (New Scientist, 12th September 2002). This issue is still highly debatable today.

The next use of genetic fingerprinting is in the diagnosis of inherited disorders. DNA fingerprinting is used to diagnose inherited disorders in both prenatal and newborn babies in hospitals around the world. These disorders may include cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, Huntington's disease, familial Alzheimer's, sickle cell anemia and many others (, 03/03/2008). Therefore keeping a genetic profile for everyone in the country would mean that doctors can detect any such disorders and would help them prepare the treatment well in advance. Whereas if doctors do not have such information about any disorders the child is likely to develop, it may be far too late to undergo any treatment to save the child. Another advantage is that prospective parents would know if their child would develop any disorder. However we must also consider that even though the baby or child is still too young to communicate, such health information such as an individual’s genetic fingerprint is confidential and therefore we could argue that the parents have no right to access this information given that they have no consent.

Genetic fingerprinting is also important in developing cures of inherited disorders. Research programs to locate inherited disorders on the chromosomes depend on the information contained in DNA fingerprints (, 03/03/2008). So by having a large population of people with their DNA fingerprint stored, it serves useful research purposes as people with genetic disorders could have their DNA fingerprints analysed and compared with others with the same disorder. Many years of continuous research could spark a genetic cure for any of the genetic disorders; hence for the future well being of society this is definitely something we should do. There are drawbacks to this as well however. Any such medical research that is involved in curing a disease or a genetic disorder would probably involve animal testing. This is a widespread issue concerning many people, and it could lead to protests which would halt any research. Nevertheless, I still think it would be more beneficial to save human lives than animal lives, and if animal testing is the only real way forward then it should be done.

Genetic fingerprinting can also be used for paternity tests. Because a child will inherit DNA from both father and mother, when the unique combination is analysed, it will match that of the biological parents. When a paternity test shows that a child's DNA does not match that of the alleged father, he is excluded 100% as the biological father of the child. When the child's DNA does match that of the alleged father, we can prove a probability of 99% or greater for paternity (, 03/03/2008). This could help settle law cases involving which parent should take the child during a divorce.

The last use of genetic fingerprinting that I would like to write about is in personal identification. Since all organs and tissues of an individual contain the same genetic fingerprint, it is possible to identify someone who has died using this. This has already been put to some wide scale use, for example; the U.S. armed services have just begun a program to collect DNA fingerprints from all personnel for use later, in case they are needed to identify casualties or persons missing in action (, 03/03/2008).

In conclusion, I would be for the proposal of developing a genetic fingerprint profile for all members of society as I believe that the advantages both in the short run and long run outweigh the disadvantages. With continued research, many more uses of genetic fingerprints are guaranteed and creating a profile for society is the first step in achieving those goals.

Bibliography:

Books:

1. Potter S., 2001, Student Unit Guide AS Biology Unit 2, Philip Allan Updates.

Websites:

1. , 02/03/2008.
2. , 02/03/2008.
3. , 02/03/2008.
4. , 02/03/2008.
5. , 03/03/2008.
6. , 03/03/2008.

Magazines/newspapers:

1. New Scientist, 12th September 2002.