Impact on Society Today

 Social Issues

"In fact, if gene therapy lives up to its promise, parents may someday be able to go beyond weeding out undesirable traits and start actually inserting the genes they want--perhaps even genes that have been crafted in a lab." (15)

One of the most controversial topics of all times in genetics is the "designer baby". Its purpose in the first place was to get rid of serious genetic diseases, but the selection of gender also became possible with it. Fertilization takes place in the vitro and is later placed in the uterus (15). The possibility of sex selection can cause the imbalance of boys and girls to go even further in societies that value boys more than girls, such as in China and India. Although equality is seen with both genders here in the US, most Americans want a son as their first child, because it makes for an ideal family. With the discoveries in the field of epigenetics already made and still in progress, we might be able to take things even further with the possibility of "designer babies" by practically hand selecting which genes are expressed or not through epigenetic modification.

Ethical Issues 

With the possibility of gender selection, some may frown upon it while others are for it. There's nothing wrong with using gene therapy and other methods to decrease or rid of the possibility of serious genetic diseases, but gender selection might seem like taking it a step too far for some. Genetic therapy may lead to the possibility of parents to pick every single little thing they want and don't want in their kids. It could range from higher IQ to having good looks, all just by adding genes. Will the possibility of their kids having traits that benefit and can further them in life pressure parents who usually want the best for their kids, to give in? Will friends and what society thinks influence what the parents choose to do? And those kids that are born with chosen characteristics, will they feel like their out of place? Or will they feel "blessed" or "lucky" to be able to have such great characteristics? Because its not like any parent will purposely choose negative characteristic traits in their kids, or could they?

Economical Issues

As the field of epigenetics is rapidly growing while still only in its infancy, many investors are getting involved and investing in such a promising field. For example, the Cancer Genome Atlas, was funded by $50 million each from The National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute to lay the groundwork for comprehensive study of genomic factors related to human cancer (14). The initial three-year effort is expected to focus on just two or three of the more than 200 cancers known to exist. SU2C (Stand Up To Cancer) has also funded $73.6 million for their cancer research Dream Teams, one whom of which known as "Bringing Epigenetics To The Forefront Of Cancer Management". (9)

Political  Issues

 Epigenetic research brings up privacy and confidentiality issues because it allows others to see an individual's risk for future health problems and if those health problems could be passed onto their kids.  Several genetic privacy laws, especially the State Genetic Privacy Laws enacted in the US consists of definitions of "genetic" that do not pertain to privacy protection for epigenetic data. New privacy legislation may be necessary to protect this information (11). Once epigenetic testing of individuals is available, concerns about possible privacy violations and epigenetic discrimination may arise.  

 The United States's Genetic Privacy Laws (11)