Genetic Screening for Factor V Leiden essays

Genetic Screening for Factor V Leiden essays Is generalised Genetic Screening for Factor V Leiden Necessary? Genetic screening has no doubt have been the one of the most controversial issue in the branch of medicine. The new issue has recently triggered the on-going debate: the dilemma of whether the Government should allow the Genetic screening of all 16 year old girls for mutation in specific gene called the Factor V which sometimes lead to condition called the DVT , or not. In the essay I will suggest on why we should not do the screening. In the first paragraph of my essay I shall briefly explain the science behind the Factor V Leiden including the cause, inheritance, test and interpretation of the result.. In my second I shall defend my argument considering the ethical, social and also economical side on the Genetic screening. Lastly the conclusion will consist of dealing with all the pros and cons of the technology and weighing up the advantage and disadvantage and my final conclusion will be made. Factor V itself is a clotting factor, whose role is to help blood to clot when an appropriate trigger is present. However, like all steps in the complex clotting cascade, Factor V is subject to regulation to keep it under control so that clots don't form too easily or too quickly. The normal traffic cop is Activated Protein C (APC). Another helper is Protein S. Normally, APC interacts with Protein S, and together they make a combo whose job it is to slow down the Factor V so that it does not lead to excessive clotting. Factor V Leiden or Factor V mutation can occur. People believe it has first started 20000-30000 years ago during the evolution. Factor V Leiden is a single nucleotide substitution Guanine to Adenine at nucleotide 1691 which is responsible for the single amino acid replacement (Arg506Gln). Factor V Leiden is inactivated by the protein C and S nearly 10 times slower than the normal Factor V, resulting in increased clotting factor that ...