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Previous Volume 349:2170-2171 November 27, 2003 Number 22 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: In their editorial (Sept. 4 issue),¹ Guttmacher and Collins provide a conventional and optimistic overview of the effects of genomics on clinical practice. Absent from their discussion is mention of the most common current use of genetics in clinical practice: negative eugenics. Testing for chromosomal disorders is routine in obstetrics and fertility medicine. The example of Tay–Sachs disease demonstrates that voluntary screening of the population and genetic counseling can have a substantial effect on the incidence of disease.² As the novelist Josef Skvoreck has written, "the past shows the potential of the future."³ Increasing knowledge of genetic . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Cappelen, A W, Norheim, O F, Tungodden, B (2008). Genomics and equal opportunity ethics. J. Med. Ethics 34: 361-364 [Abstract] [Full Text]