title: [Ethics and medical genetics].
abstract: Medical genetics may be distinguished from other medical specialities by its family dimension. Genetics raises many questions in the field of ethics concerning the potential applications in clinical medicine, in particular because of the technological evolution of human genetics in the medical field and the genetic research on the charting of the human genome. Human genetics involves filiation and questions the foundation of our society and the potential standardisation of human beings. The prescription of genetic tests is a tool for doctors but its use should be measured and carefully thought out according to the questions asked and the results expected. Examination of this issue within the context of the bioethics laws in France has made it possible to establish a framework for a certain number of practices so as to answer certain questions in human genetics. This article attempts to review the situation as it stands today with regard to the ethical issues raised by genetic tests, presymptomatic diagnosis, prenatal and pre-implantation diagnosis, and bio-collections.
authors.affiliation: Service de génétique Médicale, CHU de Bordeaux, Laboratoire "Maladies rares: Génétique et métabolisme", Université Bordeaux Segalen, Centre de Référence Anomalies du développement et syndromes malformatifs, 33076 Bordeaux.
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lacombe
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005602:France; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000941:ethics; D005826:Genetics, Medical / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D019836:Preimplantation Diagnosis / Q000941:ethics; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000941:ethics