The implications of the Human Genome Project for family practice

The Human Genome Project is an international effort to map and sequence the human genome. The information it will generate has been referred to by some as the "new anatomy," and may play an important role in the future of medicine. However, as with any new technological advancement, the outcome of the Human Genome Project and the subsequent availability of new technology will raise a myriad of ethical, legal, and social concerns. The fear is that this technology will be applied in the clinical setting before the appropriate infrastructure is in place to deal with the issues it will raise. The family physician, far from being merely an interested observer in this process, will be responsible for the delivery of much of this technology as it becomes available. As an intermediary between the technology and the individual patient, the physician has a unique obligation to join in the thoughtful consideration and debate of these issues.