Our treacherous genes

The first draft of the Human Genome Project has been completed. While it has initiated a completely new era of biological research, it has also amplified public concerns about the possibilities of genetic discrimination, uninsurability and breaches of confidentiality. The dispute about ownership of genetic information, between the Human Genome Organization and its counterpart in industry, clearly illustrates the contentious nature of genetic research. The sequence of the more than three billion base pairs published at the end of the US$3 billion project does not unveil particular details about any one individual. But the technological advances that have enabled this project to be completed far ahead of its schedule have provided new diagnostic and predictive techniques for potential diseases. It is at this, perhaps less dramatic, level that progress in genetic information technology poses particular legal, ethical and social challenges.> Technological advances that have provided new diagnostic techniques poses particular legal, ethical and social challengesPolicies that seek to offer protection for those who suffer from, or have risk factors for, genetically caused diseases are frequently based on the model of monogenic illness. But this simplistic approach ignores the complexity of most diseases, which are in fact non‐inherited and multi‐factorial. Indeed, the major killers in the developed countries—diabetes, coronary heart diseases and cancer—are caused by a combination of inherited and environmental factors in most cases. As a recent Swedish study demonstrated, inherited factors make only a minor contribution to the susceptibility for most types of cancers (Lichtenstein et al ., 2000). Viral and bacterial infections like AIDS, hepatitis or tuberculosis rely even less on genetic components, if at all. It is therefore important that sensitive decisions based on scientific results are used to draft the guidelines for acquisition and use of genetic information. Care must be …