HENRY

There’s a fascinating article in today’s New York Times by Amy Harmon on the new “personalized genome”  companies where she talks about the ethics and impact on her life of getting her genome explored:

For as little as $1,000 and a saliva sample, customers will be able to learn what is known so far about how the billions of bits in their biological code shape who they are. Three companies have already announced plans to market such services, one yesterday.

Offered the chance to be among the early testers, I agreed, but not without reservations. What if I learned I was likely to die young? Or that I might have passed on a rogue gene to my daughter? And more pragmatically, what if an insurance company or an employer used such information against me in the future?

Read more at “My Genome, Myself: Seeking Clues in DNA“

Posted on November 22nd, 2007 by Simon Greenhill