As advances in the field of genetics continue at a dizzying pace, one calls to mind the words of St. Bernard of Clairvaux in the twelfth century: “Hell is full of good intentions or desires.”

Several months ago, a published study revealed that DNA evidence can be faked, raising concerns that criminals, or governments, could easily falsify genetic evidence against their enemies. Now IBM is finishing work on a DNA Transistor which will allow quick analysis of the specific genetic makeup of any individual.

According to a report by FoxNews.com:

The DNA Transistor is a project from IBM Research that aims to advance personalized medicine, by making it simpler (and much cheaper) to read an individual's unique DNA sequence — the special combination of proteins that makes you unlike anyone else.
The technology isn't finished yet, but its potential is tantalizin [sic] enough that IBM wanted to share it with the world. And the company claims researchers are making progress.

Essentially a bar code reader for genes, the DNA Transistor is part technique and part device. It consists of a 3-nanometer wide hole, known as a nanopore, in a silicon microchip. A sensor in the pore can read DNA and determine its unique makeup....

“The technologies that make reading DNA fast, cheap and widely available have the potential to revolutionize bio-medical research and herald an era of personalized medicine,” said IBM research scientist Gustavo Stolovitzky. “Ultimately, it could improve the quality of medical care by identifying patients who will gain the greatest benefit from a particular medicine and those who are most at risk of adverse reaction.”

From a medical standpoint, the potential for the DNA Transistor is truly phenomenal. The problems develop, however, in keeping with the law of unintended consequences. “Fast, cheap, and widely available” technologies for reading the precise details of any individual’s genetic code open up a whole new world of discrimination and invasions of privacy. When a single hair can be a ‘tell all’ exposé of genetic predispositions to everything from cancers and heart conditions to a propensity to addictions or violence, employers can weed out expensive employees before they even hire them; a "fast, cheap, and widely available" test at birth can tell a government-controlled healthcare system how ‘productive’ or ‘beneficial’ a person may be to society; perhaps those who have genetic markers linked to violent behaviors could be required to be registered and monitored? After all, such things wouldn’t be “racial profiling,” it would all be very orderly, consistent, and ‘scientific.’

If such scenarios sound extreme, consider how rapidly most citizens have capitulated to the notion of cameras constantly monitoring them in public places “for their own good.” The uses to which men employ technology need have nothing to do with the intentions of those who developed the technologies in the first place, and every benefit gained must be weighed against the risks, with steps taken to mitigate the dangers. The most severe dangers to our liberties are posed by the combination of a culture of moral relativism — even moral vacuity — with growing technological prowess.

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Mike D said:

Call the garbageman because I've got a huge load of it here. First off this technology falls under the category of Next-Gen Sequencing, which many companies are developing. While this will give us the ability to look at a persons genetic make-up basepair by basepair, there are technologies on the market right now, that allow us to look at which genes people have extra copies of and which they are missing. The thing to understand about this is even though we can look at that, we still don't fully understand what a whole lot of genes do. Even things like autism have been linked to certain regions in the genome, but that doesn't mean if you have an abnormality there you have autism, and if you have autism you might not have any genetic abnormality at all. Obviously the author of this article has ZERO background in genetics and is talking out his rear end. Comparing this to having cameras on street corners is completely asinine. Even if you could tell if a person will have violent tendencies from their DNA, healthcare laws prevent any information from being released to employers or anyone else without your consent. And as for the notion of productivity being determined by DNA, well please Mr. Heiser, let me know when they discover that gene so I can make sure its "turned on" in my kids.

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October 08, 2009
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Nicholas said:

Mike doesn't get it. What Mike doesn't grasp is that these kinds of judgments are already being made and his troll behavior sure doesn't help shed much light. Mr. Heiser isn't suggesting what might happen, but what is already happening. The pseudo-science character of much of it is distressing, but 'genetic predispositional' discrimination is already going on. (Witness all the talk from experts about DNA 'predispositions' to cancer, addictions, obesity, etc.)

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