Because they often do not have access to recorded family health history, many adoptees do not know what diseases could be lurking in their DNA, the inherited genetic material that defines the characteristics of living organisms. With the advent of the Affordable Care Plan and its no-cost preventive care services, many people with known family health histories of hereditary disease can receive genetic testing if they meet generational requirements, such as instances of disease within close familial relationships. However, many adoptees face a unique problem in that they may not know who their parents and extended family are, much less any significant details of their family health history. Considering the obstacles that adoptees and orphans face under these circumstances, genetic testing should be provided to these individuals who have no knowledge of their family health history at no cost under the Affordable Care Act, its successor, or an …show more content…
During the early 1900s, scientists learned that organismal traits, including inheritable diseases, were linked to chromosomes. Finally, by the early 1950s, scientists had developed tests to identify human genetic conditions such as Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (National Institutes of Health). Today, according to the National Institutes for Health Fact Sheet on genetic testing, there are genetic tests for over two thousand inheritable conditions. Inevitably, as more genetic markers for disease are discovered in the human genome, the number of diagnostic tests designed to identify these markers will rise to match. In the future, genetic testing is expected to play a huge role in preventive healthcare and targeted treatment plans for medical conditions, especially for people with no known family health