Childhood's Short Enough Already

Here's a newswire story about a growing ethical debate in the genetic testing field: should children be tested for traits as cancer susceptibility? According to the article, "About 100,000 tests for breast cancer gene mutations were done last year, double the number in 2005. The trend may grow even more because of widening insurance coverage and a new law banning genetic discrimination." The reasoning against testing kids is that, for many diseases, little can be done in childhood to effect change -- "so the knowledge would only cause needless worry," the article adds.