4TheRcrd Mag.

{IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Chromosome with DNA} After the human genome was sequenced several years ago, it was inevitable that someone, somewhere would see dollar signs in this. A California-based online company, 23andMe, is offering the general public genotyping services. You pay $999, receive a kit in the mail, which basically consists of a test tube in which you spit in and mail back. From your saliva, they isolate cheek cells and genotype (not sequence) your DNA.

There are several things about this idea that make me cringe. First, Google has invested millions in this project (23andMe’s co-founder, Anne Wojcicki, is married to Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder), so imagine the marketing / advertising power behind this. Second, the social and ethical implications of such a service are huge- just imagine insurance companies getting their hands on such information and using it as a discriminative tool.

Also, most diseases are not just caused by the genes you inherit; there’s a complex interaction with environmental factors and these interactions are not always clearly understood. So the potential of instilling fear in someone, or giving someone a fatalistic view that might not come true is unnecessary, in my opinion.

Of course such technology, in the right circumstances, can be helpful. For instance, some medications are now known to work better in people with certain genetic variations, so testing someone in that case for that certain variation (not their entire genome), would be helpful.

Bottom line is, there needs to be appropriate regulation of such services, and because the internet is global, those regulations will likely only work if they are set on an international level.

What are your thoughts?

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