Where is the line between disease control and eugenics?

Prenatal genetic testing can empower expectant parents, but some are concerned that we may have access to more information than we can handle.

“We’re almost getting a fire hose of information pointed at us,” says NYU medical ethicist Art Caplan, “and we have a very hard time figuring out, well, what does it all mean?”

Much of the information encoded in our DNA signals an increased risk for a disease, and the interpretation of risk factors is not simple.

“We’re all bad at statistics,” says Caplan.

For example, many would interpret a tripled risk of a disease as a serious concern, without considering that this might mean a jump from a minuscule one in a million to three in a million.

There is also disagreement over what should be screened for in the first place. Albinism, for example, may not be desirable to an expectant parent, but is not a serious disease.

Where should we as a society draw the line between disease control and eugenics?

Hear the whole interview with ethicist Art Caplan above.