With the accelerating discovery of human genes, public health professionals are increasingly confronted with a large body of scientific information that will guide public health action. Because the broad mission of public health is to fulfill society's interest in assuring conditions in which people can be healthy, the integration of new genetic information in public health research, policy, and program development is unavoidable. Public health leadership is urgently needed to use genetic information to improve health and prevent disease, and to address ethical, legal and social issues...

This book explores implicit choices made by researchers, policy makers, and funders regarding who benefits from society's investment in health research. The authors focus specifically on genetic research and examine whether such research tends to reduce or exacerbate existing health disparities. Using case examples to illustrate the issues, the authors trace the path of genetics research from discovery, through development and delivery, to health outcomes. Topics include breast cancer screening and treatment, autism research, pharmacogenetics, prenatal testing, newborn screening, and youth...