The Future of the Human Genome

In May of 1998, Craig Venter announced that he was going to create a private company to map out the entire human genome (Shreeve 6).  People could not imagine this ever happening, considering how big the human genome is but, if he did so they knew it would be a huge scientific achievement.  It could lead to treatments for diseases.  It would allow doctors to get a better look at what genes are the cause of different diseases.  It would lead to more accurate medicines and understanding of the human organism alone.  But as the human genome project is completed and technology becomes more advanced, the prices for receiving an individualized genetic test will go down and people will be more likely to get them done just because they can and they’re curious about their genetics.

The future of the genetic field would lead to license-like plastic cards which would hold a chip that contained the person’s entire genetic code.  Venter said these cards would hold information that would be key to these people’s lives.  Imagine Jeff’s card (random person) which says if he smoked he would have a 37% chance of developing lung cancer before he was sixty years old, so he didn’t smoke.  He knew that aspirin would help him prevent heart disease, so he would take aspirin especially since he had the defective gene APOE, which puts him at a higher risk for heart attacks and strokes.  This would therefore change the way he ate and exercised on a daily basis.  The card would tell him what his chances of going insane or committing suicide would be (Shreeve 8,9).  It would tell him a bunch of other random little bits of information as well which could ultimately change the way Jeff lived his life.

Not only would people be able to change their lives based on the genetic coding, but other people have the possibility of being able to change their lives as well.  The misuse of genetic information is a scary thing to imagine.  Even though Venter thought a lot about the success of the human genome code, he also thought a lot about the possible exploitation of it as well.  If a person has a certain APOE gene, they will not necessarily develop Alzheimer’s but have an increased risk in developing the disease.  What if there was a similar gene, where the person had an increased risk, not an automatic fixed occurrence, in becoming a pedophile? Would the law enforcement put everyone with that gene in jail, even though some of those people may not necessarily become pedophiles? (Shreeve 217)

Sometimes, I think the human genome is a beautiful thing.  The possibilities of finding genes where diseases lie and possible cures for said diseases is amazing.  But sometimes, the thought of it scares me.  Knowing everything about yourself and also knowing the possibilities of the future that may not even occur.  Although it may be helpful in some cases to know the possibilities, it may also make some people go crazy, wondering if it will happen and when it will happen.

There was a quote in the book that I found and it immediately made me wonder about all the possibilities with the human genome and what the future will look like as technology furthers.  Craig Venter said, “My solution would be to change the Fourteenth Amendment.  Instead of saying you cannot discriminate on the basis of race, creed, gender, or whatever, it should just say you can’t be discriminated against on the basis of genetic information, period.  Because that covers everything else” (Shreeve 217).

Sources:                                                          

Shreeve, James.  The Genome War: How Craig Venter Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World.  New York: Ballantine, 2005.  Print.