Beginning in September, 1973, the Group in Genetic Counseling and Engineering at the Institute of Society, Ethics and Life Sciences will be engaged in a two year project designed to examine genetic counseling and to identify the key social and legal issues raised by its traditional practice and by its application in mass genetic screening programs. The project is an extension of the Genetic Group's previous work in the area of genetic screening, which is summarized in a report on the "Ethical and Social Issues in Screening for Genetic Disease". The proposed project is intended to examine the legal questions posed by disclosure or non-disclosure of genetic information, and the possibilities of malpractice in the proffering of genetic counsel. Implicit in these legal questions are the social and ethical ones of consent, confidentiality, and voluntarism. Further areas of involvement include the problem and appropriateness of determinations of "genetic health" and the issue of genetic identification of individuals carrying deleterious genes or other genetically transmissable conditions. The Group proposes to publish a series of papers dealing with these and related questions. Research methodologies will include survey questionnaires, interviews, and direct observer participation in counseling sessions.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter