Who should know about our genetic makeup and why?

Recent developments in biology have made it possible to acquire more and mo re precise information concerning our genetic makeup. Although the most far -reaching effects of these developments will probably be felt only, after t he Human Genome Project has been completed in a few years' time, scientists call even today, identify a number of genetic disorders which may cause il lness and disease in their carriers. The improved knowledge regarded the hu man genome will, it is provided, in the near future make diagnoses more acc urate and treatments more effective, and thereby considerably reduced and p revent unnecessary suffering. On the other hand, however, the knowledge can also be, depending on the case, futile, distressing or plainly harmful. Th is is why we propose to answer in this paper the dual question: who should know about our genetic makeup and why? Through all analysis of prudential, moral and legal grounds for acquiring the information, we conclude that, at least oil the levels of law and social policy practically nobody is either duty-bound to receive or entitled to have that knowledge.