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Protecting the Vulnerable: Genetic Testing and Screening for Parentage, Immigration, and Aboriginality

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The Moral, Social, and Commercial Imperatives of Genetic Testing and Screening

Part of the book series: International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine ((LIME,volume 30))

As healthcare professions, law enforcement agencies, governments, employers, insurance companies, and others rush to utilize genetic information about individuals with whom they interact or have relationships, conflict may arise between different stakeholders. In such circumstances, it may be the function of ethics to balance competing interests and activities, explore alternatives and options, and protect the vulnerable from harm. Ethics may explore and advise on issues of the moral life, but sometimes it needs the backup of constructive policy developments and the investigative, protective, and guiding forces of the law to achieve a more mutually beneficial outcome. This chapter on DNA kinship testing is an example of such merging of forces, namely ethics, policy, and law to protect the vulnerable. It portrays the effects of unethical behaviour on three different stakeholders and makes some recommendations on how to re-establish and protect the moral life.

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  1. Human Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

    Dr. Astrid H. Gesche Ph.D.

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  1. Dr. Astrid H. Gesche Ph.D.
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  1. Faculty of Business & Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Michela Betta

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Gesche, A.H. (2006). Protecting the Vulnerable: Genetic Testing and Screening for Parentage, Immigration, and Aboriginality. In: Betta, M. (eds) The Moral, Social, and Commercial Imperatives of Genetic Testing and Screening. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 30. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4619-3_11

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