[Human genetics and ethics].

Abstract

Many new problems and dilemmas have occurred in the practice of medical geneticists with the development of human genetics and its subdisciplines--molecular genetics, ethic genetics and juridical genetics. Devoid of the possibility to get adequate education, genetic informer or better to say, counsellor, although a scientist and a professional who has already formed his ethic attitudes, often finds himself in a dilemma when he has to decide whether a procedure made possible by progress of science is ethical or not. Thus, due to different attitudes, same decision is ethical for some, while for the others it is not. Ethic committees are groups of moral and good people trying to find an objective approach to certain genetic and ethic problems. There are more and more ethically unanswered questions in modern human genetics, and particularly in medical genetics. Medical geneticist-ethicist still encounters numerous problems in his work. These are, for example, experiments with human gametes and embryos, possibilities of hybridization of human gametes with animal gametes, in vitro fertilization, detection of heterozygotes and homozygotes for monogene diseases. early detection of chromosomopathies, substitute mothers, homo and hetero insemination, transplantation of fetal and cadeveric organs, uncontrolled consumption of alcohol and drugs, environmental pollution, etc. It is almost impossible to create a single attitude which shall be shared by all those engaged in human health protection. Therefore, it is best to have a neutral eugenetic attitude which allows free ethical choice of each individual, in any case, for the well-being of man.