Ethical, legal, and social implications of genomic medicine.

N Engl J Med 2003;349:562-9. Copyright © 2003 Massachusetts Medical Society. s detailed in other articles in the Genomic Medicine series , genomics has contributed greatly to our understanding of the molecular basis of disease and, to a lesser but growing extent, to the development of effective interventions. Clinicians and society at large, however, are concerned about the effect genetic knowledge will have on the well-being of individual persons and groups. Much effort is being devoted to trying to anticipate, understand, and address the ethical, legal, social, and political implications of genetics and genomics. The inquiry is complex. Understanding the social effects of genomics requires an analysis of the ways in which genetic information and a genetic approach to disease affect people individually, within their families and communities, and in their social and working lives. Genomics presents particular challenges with respect to clinicians’ ethical and professional responsibilities, including the appropriate use of genomic information in the health care setting. In this article, I examine public concerns about genetic information and discuss a few recent cases in some depth to highlight a few of the dilemmas presented by genomics and emerging solutions.