Stanford, U.C. Berkeley Offer Students Genetic Testing 104
cappp writes with this snippet from Scientific American: "This week Berkeley will mail saliva sample kits to every incoming freshman and transfer student. Students can choose to use the kits to submit their DNA for genetic analysis, as part of an orientation program on the topic of personalized medicine. But U.C. Berkeley isn't the only university offering its students genetic testing. Stanford University's summer session started two weeks ago, including a class on personal genomics that gives medical and graduate students the chance to sequence their genotypes and study the results."
Re:Voluntary... for now (Score:1, Interesting)
I know this sounds some what paranoid, but my alma mater started with just offering student health insurance. Then having insurance became mandatory. Then having THEIR insurance became mandatory.
Re:Admissions (Score:4, Interesting)
Why is it that whenever DNA analysis turns up in something other than a homicide case, it seems that most people automatically thinks privacy? Of course there can be privacy implications and of course these implications are important, but are those implications so negative to counter the benefits that could be obtained?
I, for one, would love to hear what they say about my saliva. Who knows, perhaps they would come up with something funny like I should have studied marketing or something.
Re:Does anyone see a GATTACA coming true? (Score:3, Interesting)
On the other hand, if you're really that likely to get cancer and die during the 4 month course I think that would be pretty important information to know about. In fact, personally I would call getting that information but missing out on the class a net win. As long as they don't start using genome studies to test for intelligence, aggression, or work ethic I honestly think that the right laws and regulations can control the situation.
Re:'personalized medicine'? (Score:2, Interesting)
Just because someone eats well, is active, and generally leads a healthy life doesn't mean there isn't something wrong, especially when it comes to women (hear me out). Because women are XX, a flaw in one of those may not ever show up or be noticed, but it could be passed on to a male child. Testing can reveal this problem before it happens. I'm not saying schools, jobs, or insurance should require this type of testing, but in our case, I wish we'd known beforehand.
Re:Admissions (Score:5, Interesting)
Because every piece of information you voluntarily give away will inevitably end up in places you couldn't foresee, that's why.
You innocently give it to your school, and it ends up in a corporate database, or being used by the government in ways you didn't think of. The standard scenario is being denied insurance because you're predisposed to a certain illness and are therefore going to cost them money.
It's no different from all of the kids on Facebook who don't fully understand that if you broadcast everything, there can be unexpected backlashes. If you just freely hand over this kind of stuff, you have no idea of what could happen in the future.
Perhaps the most important thing is to start applying some critical reasoning to the information we give out every day, and ponder what might happen in the future. What happens when your DNA becomes mandatory?? It starts seeming like the dystopian future we've all been hoping wouldn't happen.
This kind of stuff never stays as only the reason you were told it was going to be used. So, some of us have a default position of "explain, exactly, to me why you want this, and what you're going to do with it". Would you give your saliva to Wal Mart to qualify for a discount?
I know I sound like a representative of the Tin Foil Hat Brigade, but just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean someone isn't out there trying to get you.