How does genetic counseling relate to genetic testing, gene therapy or cloning?
• Genetic tests are sometimes offered by a genetic counselor when a patient’s family genetic history suggests potential risks for certain conditions. Often, a review of family genetic histories will indicate that a genetic test does not need to be conducted. • Involvement of a genetic counselor as a first step can reduce health care costs significantly and provide a more comprehensive look at a patient’s genetic history. A genetic counseling session may cost approximately $200 and examine a broad range of disorders. A genetic test might cost ten times that amount and be limited to testing for a single gene. • Genetic counseling is a process in which a genetic counselor educates families or individuals about their risk of passing on a genetic predisposition for certain disorders or of having inherited a disorder themselves. Gene therapy is the highly technical science of altering genes. For example, genetic technologies have recently led to a new treatment for hereditary immune deficien
