Genetic privacy has become a hot topic of late, and rightly so as genetics have revealed some important secrets about health, heredity, and personal traits. Tonight we heard about the issues surrounding genetic privacy in law, medicine, research, history, and art.
Lori Andrews discussed the laws surrounding genetic discrimination and related issues. Who should be able to access genetic information? For what purpose? These issues are more than just theoretical, as Chicago sports fans know the issue of genetic testing and employment has had a direct impact on the roster of the Chicago Bulls basketball team. Genetics, which many consider to carry absolute truth, brings questions of privacy strongly into the public arena.
Dr. William Catalona, professor of urology, spoke about ownership of genetic material and information. The profits at stake in genetic medicine, he pointed out, are quite substantial and may lead to strong legal disputes about genetic property rights that may hinder research.
Russell Lewis, historian, discussed the dilemmas surrounding biohistorial research on President Lincoln. Despite the number of artifacts collected that may contain Lincoln’s genetic material, historians must balance the potential gains from such research against the destruction of those artifacts. Further, the research should offer some benefit to society beyond just a desire to know more about a celebrity figure.
Finally, artist Larry Miller presented some of his genetics-related work, such as his Genome Copyright form for “Original Humans” and portraits composed of DNA on a gel. As we are attempting to with the future perfect series, Miller increased public awareness of genetic issues through his art.
All these speakers highlighted the issues of genetic privacy from various fields. The questions they posed: who should own genetic information? Who should have access to genetic information? Who ought to profit from research using genetic information? These questions do not have easy answers and they may not be resolved in the near future. They are, however, already being discussed and will likely have major implications in several aspects of our lives.
March 18, 2008 at 4:28 am
There can only one owner of genetic information and that is the everyone.
June 16, 2008 at 10:14 am
With goverments wanting identity cards with bio-metric information is a dangerous step, people (criminals) could steal a persons identity right down to the genetic level and there is no way to stop this, the problems that will arise outweigh any benefits that may be found.