Social or political pressure may be applied to people to make childbearing decisions on the basis of genetic information. Mating between those with valued genes may be encouraged while mating between two people with dangerous recessive traits may be prohibited. Women carrying fetuses with genetic abnormalities may be encouraged to abort. Genetic determinism . Genetic determinism is the belief that behavioral and personality characteristics, such as intelligence or criminal behavior, are mostly a function of genes.
Genetic determinism implies a fatalistic attitude toward health and disease.
It can be used to justify bigotry and to perpetuate racial or ethnic inequalities. A genetic underclass could be created. As we consider these questions it would be wise to remember that less than half of all disease and disability is thought to be caused by genetic factors. Each human is also thought to carry about five recessive genes for lethal disorders. We will probably discover that all of us carry a large number of genes that predispose us to various conditions.