Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Penticuff.
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Ethical issues in genetic therapy involve the use of genetic science for human good and the avoidance of preventable harms. Immediate issues are the control and confidentiality of results of genetic testing, possible discrimination against those found to have genetic diseases, and the just allocation of beneficial genetic therapies. Less practical, but possibly more significant, dilemmas involve the use of genetic science in ways that go beyond prevention and cure of disease. Such use as trait enhancement and "neo-eugenics" raise troubling ethical concerns.
Caldwell's Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) was developed to provide specific and sensitive information about the home and maternal environment as a stimulus to infant learning and development. The use of the HOME scale was examined in a sample of 118 middle- and lower-income mothers and their low-birth-weight (LBW) or very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants. The analysis of data demonstrated limited variability in the HOME scale total scores within each income group, and income alone was found to account for 41% of the variance in the sample. These findings raise questions about the effectiveness of the HOME scale in making useful discriminations about family functioning within an income group.