The real challenge with DNA access is that there’s too many nefarious things that can be done with that information. Without strong legal protections worldwide, some can use information from one’s DNA to determine genetic conditions that they’d exclude from employment, access to social programs, or access to specific aspects of life even. Eugenicists freaking love DNA because it gives the perfect excuse, technical means and mode to carry out their practice, insurance companies could use genetic conditions to set rates in an unfair manner, and of course we could find ourselves with botique babies where certain aspects are spliced in or out in the attempt to make either the perfect child or more terrifyingly the perfect soldier.
Open access to DNA simply enables racism, social casting and eugenics at a scale and scope that humanity has yet to see, and the idea of this possibility is frankly terrifying.
Well, nothing is stopping the super soldiers, with or without open DNA. Most of those are not all that worrisome in any practical way, except employment and insurance. The only real answer for Insurance is single payer insurance at one price for everyone. The way we let insurance companies hold the noose around our necks in the US is flabbergasting. I don’t know for sure that the rest of the world is quite as good as all that, since I’ve talked to people of many countries and never heard one that didn’t have major complaints when they weren’t just trying to dump on the US. I do feel like the US is the worst of the wealthy countries anyway. If we could stop the insurance companies from having the leverage to hold us to the fire, open DNA could facilitate research on lots of medical treatments. So I guess, first put the insurance companies out of business permanently, then open source the DNA. Which I suppose means never at this rate…
I think everybody’s DNA should be open source…
The real challenge with DNA access is that there’s too many nefarious things that can be done with that information. Without strong legal protections worldwide, some can use information from one’s DNA to determine genetic conditions that they’d exclude from employment, access to social programs, or access to specific aspects of life even. Eugenicists freaking love DNA because it gives the perfect excuse, technical means and mode to carry out their practice, insurance companies could use genetic conditions to set rates in an unfair manner, and of course we could find ourselves with botique babies where certain aspects are spliced in or out in the attempt to make either the perfect child or more terrifyingly the perfect soldier.
Open access to DNA simply enables racism, social casting and eugenics at a scale and scope that humanity has yet to see, and the idea of this possibility is frankly terrifying.
Well, nothing is stopping the super soldiers, with or without open DNA. Most of those are not all that worrisome in any practical way, except employment and insurance. The only real answer for Insurance is single payer insurance at one price for everyone. The way we let insurance companies hold the noose around our necks in the US is flabbergasting. I don’t know for sure that the rest of the world is quite as good as all that, since I’ve talked to people of many countries and never heard one that didn’t have major complaints when they weren’t just trying to dump on the US. I do feel like the US is the worst of the wealthy countries anyway. If we could stop the insurance companies from having the leverage to hold us to the fire, open DNA could facilitate research on lots of medical treatments. So I guess, first put the insurance companies out of business permanently, then open source the DNA. Which I suppose means never at this rate…