The key is in the genes, or is it…?

Abstract

‘It's in my genes; my genes are guilty, not me’, yelled the convicted criminal as he was led from the courtroom. Will judges in future have to take into account the genetic makeup of the perpetrator when deciding the sentence? As information from various genotyping projects pours in, the longstanding debate on the balance between nature and nurture in the development of phenotypes is being spiced up. Rapid progress in genome sequencing and analysis by public and commercial projects is producing a mountain of data that will be used to explain behavioural traits, and develop new and improved diagnoses and treatments for numerous diseases. But dabble with others' genes at your peril; this information has serious ethical, financial and social implications for the individual and society at large. > Our genes are the last repository of human privacy, and yet they are so easily read On July 26th, 2000, President Clinton announced the publication of the first map of the human genome: ‘Without a doubt, this is the most important, most wondrous map ever produced by humankind.’ Knowing ‘the language in which God created life’ as Clinton put it, scientists and doctors in the field of medical genetics now have the necessary knowledge to enter a completely new era of medical research, one in which researchers will for the first time tackle genetic diseases at their roots. These include some of the most devastating ailments such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, Huntington's and cancer. Scientists have already embarked upon this large and complicated quest by performing genome surveys on population subgroups, but much of the legal framework needed to ensure integrity has yet to be devised. In the eyes of many, our genes are the last repository of human privacy, and yet they are so easily read. It is not surprising, therefore, that …