Genetic discrimination

[Guest guest]

The first few posts I reviewed on this board touched on this subject some.

Today I received the Spyware news letter.

http://www.spywareinfo.net/aug12,2005 . This was one section. This may

possibly turn out to be a double post.

Genetic Discrimination

Since I am on the subject of movies, who remembers Gattaca? This was a

movie set about 20 or 30 years in the future. Before people are born,

their genes are altered to edit out any imperfections. They are

stronger, smarter and faster than their natural-born counterparts and

are highly unlikely ever to develop a disease.

People begin to discriminate against natural-borns, those people

conceived and born without the benefit of genetic enhancement. Simply

hand in a job application and the skin cells you leave on the paper

will be examined to determine if you have any genetic imperfections.

It is illegal, of course, but it happens anyway. Natural-borns are

relegated to the low-income labor class, sweeping floors or slinging

burgers.

Gattaca was an interesting, if not particularly good movie. And, like

Minority Report, it predicts a problem that we may have to deal with

soon out here in the real world. A few years ago, the Burlington

Northern Santa Fe Railway tested the genes of workers injured on the

job. This was done completely without their permission. They were

looking for indications that these employees might be genetically

predisposed to developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The railroad was

trying to find a way to avoid their obligation to pay Worker's

Compensation benefits to those employees.

http://www.health-hack.com/archives/2005/08/09/09/16/genetic-ethics-carpal-tunne\

l/

That may well be one of the worst ways possible in which to invade

someone's privacy. I think even the " I have nothing to hide " crowd

will be nervous about the idea of someone stealing parts of their body

to run genetic tests. Even if they have absolutely nothing they would

want to hide about their private lives, their genes are a different

story. What if their boss lifts a skin cell for testing, then

discovers a genetic predisposition for alcoholism left over from some

distant ancestor? Will they continue heckling privacy advocates after

an invasion of privacy leaves them walking home with a pink slip?

The US Senate has passed a bill which forbids employers and health

insurers to discriminate against people based on information found in

their genes.

http://www.rednova.com/news/science/128971/senate_approves_ban_on_genetic_discri\

mination/

It is called the " Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2005 " .

This bill now is awaiting action from the House of Representatives.

The President already has indicated that he would sign it once it

crosses his desk.

Unless you want your health insurance premiums to double because your

family has been passing along an undesirable recessive gene since the

founding of the Roman Empire, you should write to your Congressman or

Congresswoman and ask him or her to vote for this bill.