Ética e medicina preditiva

Abstract

Technological developments in recent times have allowed us to master genetics and this has had an impact on medicine through the creation of the field of predictive or pre-symptomatic medicine. Predictive medicine, using genetic testing produces a prognosis regarding the likelihood of an individual, in the future, developing some kind of genetic disease and aims to prevent and cure it. However, as with any kind of knowledge, the science of pre-symptomatic diagnostics, which is capable of manipulating life itself, can be used for good or for ill. For this reason, there is a need to raise the ethical questions involved. This theoretical article aims to address such issues.