test and others like it, as an opportunity to screen prospective clients for the probability of such diseases. Some people feel that this information gives insurance companies unfair advantage over those covered by medical insurance and point out that release of genetic information to insurance companies puts a severe disadvantage on the person who is screened, as well as violates the patients right to privacy. If this genetic information is not safeguarded as confidential for the patient and doctor's knowledge alone, then the patient can be labeled as undesirable and the patient may not be able to receive insurance coverage at any price. This also brings up other ethical questions. "Does genetic testing constitute an invasion of privacy, and would it stigmatize those found to have serious inborn deficiencies? Would prenatal testing lead to more abortions? Should anyone be tested before the age of consent?" Obviously, much genetic advancement is to come of this research. One biotechnology that will benefit from genetic testing is genetic engineering. It too, may have many social implications depending on what is created from such experimentation. Gene Therapy is one "spin-off" that has greatly benefited Gene-mapping. It utilizes genetic engineering to treat genetic disorders by "introducing genes into existing cells to prevent or cure diseases". Most of the methods are still in the experimental stages and have yet to be approved by the FDA. One example would be in a proposed treatment for a brain tumor. Scientists would take a herpes gene and splice it in to a nonvirulent virus. Viruses and liposomes have an uncanny ability to navigate through cell membranes. The virus is then placed into a laboratory animal to reproduce itself, and after reproduction, is injected into the human's brain tumor. The virus is supposed to invade the tumor cells. Thus, the herpes enzyme will render the tumor vulnerable to drugs used to cure herpes, kil...
