I’ll Show You My Genome. Will You Show Me Yours?

Reason ^ | January 2011 | Ronald Bailey

[neverdem]

Our science correspondent reveals his genetic code. Soon you will too.

Michael Cariaso, developer of the human genetics wiki SNPedia and the online gene analysis tool Promethease, has helped thousands of people unlock the secrets of their own genetic code. But when it comes to making his own gene screening tests publicly available for all the world to see, Cariaso prefers to hold the key close to his vest, worrying that such transparency might lead to personal embarrassment or discrimination by insurance companies or future employers. “Someone later might discover,” he says, “that I have genes for a short penis and low intelligence.”

Cariaso is certainly a smart guy, and he is hardly alone in his general concerns. (With regard to his genitalia, as the philosopher Wittgenstein said, “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”) But he’s wrong. Fears about the loss of genetic privacy are greatly exaggerated. We are fast approaching an era in which genetic information is no longer exclusive or medicalized. Instead, as screening costs plummet and our knowledge about genetics expands, virtually everyone will soon be able to have their genotypes at their fingertips. Knowing and sharing that information will enhance, not jeopardize, our sense of ourselves, change the way we consume medicine and plan for the future, and influence how we relate to each other.

That’s why I’ve decided to post my genotype screening information online. You can read all about me at snpedia.com/index.php/User:Ronald_Bailey. As a service to future consumers and as a guide to the world we will all soon be living in, here are my answers to the most common questions about and objections to genetic testing.

How does genetic screening work?

Right now the cheapest, simplest way for a consumer to get some preliminary insight into his or her genetic...

[Doulos1]

My haplogroup.

[6SJ7]

[ElkGroveDan]

Thanks for posting this. He makes a serious misstatement on the genealogy DNA tests that I emailed him about.

[John Locke]

From my annual lecture on the dangers of technology:

"Hello Mr Sixpack, I'm from Obamacare Security. Please come with us."

"Hey, whaddaya want me for?"

"We want you to come for the heart transplant operation"

"But I don't need a heart transplant!"

"No, Sir, but the Secretary of Health does, and the database says you're the closest match"

Well, Freepers, are you prepared to bet this won't happen? Remember, you're betting your life.

[r9etb]

e are fast approaching an era in which genetic information is no longer exclusive or medicalized. Instead, as screening costs plummet and our knowledge about genetics expands, virtually everyone will soon be able to have their genotypes at their fingertips. Knowing and sharing that information will enhance, not jeopardize, our sense of ourselves, change the way we consume medicine and plan for the future, and influence how we relate to each other.

Oh, my..... this sort of naive silliness takes me back to that halcyon issue of Reason Magazine, where they endorsed Bill Clinton for president.

[neverdem]

Thanks for posting this. He makes a serious misstatement on the genealogy DNA tests that I emailed him about.

You're welcome. If I may ask, what's the beef?