We asked Science News readers to ponder those cases, described below, and tell us what they would do. Here, we attempt to convey the flavor of those responses as well as explore what ethicists, geneticists, and genetic counselors think about the same four cases. Ideally, these ethical principles operate in harmony. In real life, they can clash dramatically.
Experts say they struggle with such cases.
When principles conflict, a counselor may try to balance and weigh each obligation. Sometimes that process reveals a clear course of action. Other times, the moral waters remain murky. Unlike other disciplines, where data may point to a definitive answer, a tricky case of ethics can become mired in conflicting values, emotions, and legal issues. Indeed, ethics is taught through the study of knotty examples like the four cases in the Nov. 5 Science News .