Genetic Screening: Ethical Issues
What is not covered in this report
10.3 We emphasise once more that this report has covered genetic screening for serious disease. (We have explained our views on what constitutes serious disease in paragraph 3.10. Distinguishing between serious disease and other medical conditions would be a task that would fall naturally to the central coordinating body envisaged in paragraph 10.20.) We recognise that there is a whole area of serious concern about genetic screening for human traits that are in no sense diseases. These issues have been brought to the fore by recent controversies about gender choice, and about the so-called 'homosexuality gene'. We do not dismiss these issues. They call for discussion by professionals with skills other than those represented in our Working Party.