Esther12
Senior Member
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- 13,774
I think that it's a mistake to view genetic testing in primarily medical terms, rather than political. To a large extent, British and American societies are built upon myths about 'equality of opportunity', exaggerated claims about individual's control over their own lives, and so on. The more accurate information we have about reality, the more those myths are challenged. This is going to be important in medicine, for insurance (will insurance companies be able to insist people get tested?), pensions, for decisions about how people are valued, and so on. If people have genetic results which indicate a high probability of early death or disability, how will that affect their rights and responsibilities in society?
Currently this is just an emerging issue, but there will be a lot of interested parties with a lot of money and influence who have clear ideas about how they want things to go, and what outcomes they want to avoid. If genetic testing does end up providing the sorts of important information people expect, it will have a profound impact upon lots of areas of life, and this makes me instinctively sceptical of any attempt to control it (even if I currently think the FDA has some fair but minor reasons for concern with 23andMe)
Currently this is just an emerging issue, but there will be a lot of interested parties with a lot of money and influence who have clear ideas about how they want things to go, and what outcomes they want to avoid. If genetic testing does end up providing the sorts of important information people expect, it will have a profound impact upon lots of areas of life, and this makes me instinctively sceptical of any attempt to control it (even if I currently think the FDA has some fair but minor reasons for concern with 23andMe)