Life changed on Monday, June 26. The day was a milestone in human history.
Everything changed with the announcement that the human genome—the
molecular recipe for human beings—has been mapped by both an international public
project and a private company.
If the earth didn’t shake, it should have.
The completion of the genetic map of a human being is as significant as
the discovery of fire, the development of the wheel, the shot heard round the world, the
vaccine for polio, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the development of the atomic
bomb.
It is being called the first great technological triumph of the 21st
century.
The future will find people talking about the time before the map of the
human genome and the time after. How it is used will be key to whether the time after is
good or bad.
The opportunities are enormous. Eventually, scientists will be able to
identify most chronic and deadly diseases before they manifest themselves. This will give
people a chance to prepare to deal with them. As research continues, gene therapies will
be found to cure or reduce the damage of everything from birth defects to mental illness.
Aging may become a little easier, although we’re not betting on discovery of a
fountain of youth any time soon.
The potential for abuse is also enormous. There will be mistakes. There
will be misguided applications of the technology. Such is human nature.
To head off the most obvious abuses, Congress should enact genetic privacy
laws to make an individual’s genetic information and genetic material his own. New
laws should prohibit genetic testing without consent. Otherwise, the door will open to
discrimination by employers and insurance companies who may wish to avoid costs by not
employing people whose genetic profiles indicate they are likely to become ill some time
in their lives.
Moreover, the nation needs safeguards to outlaw genetic meddling, a
Frankenstein law of sorts.
For example, some enterprising researchers might decide it’s a good
idea to tweak the human design to make it better suited for space travel—or nuclear
cleanup. Some families may decide it would be a nice idea to fix their genetic material to
ensure that subsequent generations will have "perfect" noses, ears or eye color.
With the human recipe in hand, creative scientists could devise new
ones—variations on the human theme—without any guarantee of good outcomes and
with great risk of bad ones. Therein lies potential for great suffering.
Congress should convene a permanent national committee on genetics to help
address the inevitable ethical questions. Future generations should enjoy unimaginable
benefits from the map of the human genome. Its power for good is amazing and welcome, but
we should proceed with caution.
