The ethics of personalized medicine

Personalized medicine is that branch of medicine whereby a patient's treatment and prognosis are based on his genes. Recent genetic research explains the variations and similarities between humans, their diseases, and their responses to various treatments. Because governments and universities have not set strict standards, there are numerous tests and kits available to detect genetic problems. But are these kits accurate? The validity of some biomarkers is suspect.

The ethics of personalized medicine became an issue when some laboratory tests resulted in women incorrectly having been told that they have a high risk of breast or ovarian cancer when they did not. Ethical issues are not confined to the utilization of genetic information, but can be raised with the acquisition of human material for the advancement of knowledge. Whose genes are these? Who owns your DNA?

In the US, patients are given prenatal genetic advice upon which they can decide for themselves how to proceed. But in Russia, patients have no choice. The state makes most decisions. Selective breeding would be unacceptable in western countries.