Newswise — Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine’s Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy will co-host with the Illinois Health Ethics Committee Forum and DePaul University College of Law’s Health Law Institute a one day conference addressing legal, ethical and social issues that arise from genetic testing.

The conference will include a screening of the movie In the Family and a question and answer with the filmmaker, Joanna Rudnick. The documentary follows Rudnick as she comes face-to-face with her own mortality. At the age of 31, she had to wrestle with a positive genetic test result and make the impossible decision of dashing dreams of having her own children by having her ovaries and breasts removed or risk incredible odds of developing cancer.

The Neiswanger Institute’s Katherine Wasson, PhD, MPH, will speak on the controversial issue of direct-to-consumer testing in “Direct-to-consumer genetic testing: What’s all the fuss about?” Her research examines the views, attitudes and ethical concerns raised by primary care patients making decisions about direct-to-consumer genetic tests.

Nanette Elster, JD, MPH, DePaul University College of Law, Health Law Institute, will present the “The Double Edged Sword of the Double Helix: Legal and Ethical Issues Raised by Genetics.” She will address issues such as the patentability of genetic material and the impact of genetic information on familial relationships.

For more information or to register visit: http://www.stritch.luc.edu/depts/bioethics/news_and_events/IssuesEthics_2011.html