I don't believe in the practice of eugenics. I think it's unfair to prevent people from having children based on them having certain diseases or genetic mutations that might be passed onto their offspring. In fact, it goes against Darwinism - evolution of the human race would probably come to a standstill upon elimination of "bad genes", and humans would be at risk for extinction (presumably).
Quote:
Originally Posted by duga
I know a lot of this seems like science fiction, but we are very close to all being judged based on our genetic makeup. Currently, it costs about $2000 to re-sequence an entire genome. That is down from about $10,000 a little less than 10 years ago and well over a million 20 years ago. Once that comes down to $100 dollars, everyone will be required to have their genome sequenced (sorry, it's just gonna happen). Then your insurance rates will be based on your genetic predispositions. I hate to say it, but this stuff is inevitable.
|
I'm actually really excited for the opportunity to have my personal genome sequenced. I know that I will find things out that I probably don't want to know (i.e. that I'm at high, high risk for some terrible disease like Alzheimer's, etc.), but it will feed my curiosity about genetics in general. Plus we don't have the ass-backwards issue of being discriminated against because of predisposed health conditions. Canada =
However it does raise the question of genetic privacy and who will be able to see or have access to your personal DNA sequence. This lovely scientist explains the concept of DNA sequencing and genetic privacy very well, I think: