Scientists Complete Map of Human Genetic Variation

UltimaGuy writes "A major scientific step in the field of genetics is set to speed up the search for the causes of common illnesses ranging from heart disease and cancer to Alzheimer's and asthma. Scientists have mapped patterns of tiny DNA differences that distinguish one person from another, a step that will speed up the search for genes that promote common illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes."

Comments

Then what?

[metallichica]

And what happens once we find these? We isolate them and start working on cures... and once we've become immune to those, the superdiseases will start sneaking in. Nature finds a way to keep the population from getting too out-of-control - it has to. We can "cure" whatever we want, but something new will always pop up again - and thank goodness for that. We can find all these ways to prolong life... but how about making life better first? Let's work on problems like hunger and opression.

We're playing a dangerous game, where people can control what their baby's gender will be - now we get to play with their genes too? Ever hear of Natural Selection?

Hey, who knows, maybe companies will start buying gene sequences. Sure, you can make your kid immune to heart disease... for a price. Want them to have blond hair and blue eyes? We can do that, just fork over that cash.

future is here

[sinij]

Welcome to the future, invalid.

Re:Well all I can say is...

[Turn-X Alphonse]

Fucking hell man, who did you piss off in your last life? Was it you who named Jesus to the cross then kicked a puppy!?

NEED GOOD LAWS NOW

[twitter]

speed up the search for genes that promote common illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes

The potential misuses of this are obvious, immediate and must be legislated against now:

1. Denial of insurance based on heredity.
2. Abortion and culling based on heredity.
3. Genetic "improvement" with unintentional consequences.

   1. That's a short list and others can think of more, I'm sure.

      The first two are obviously evil, but the third is perhaps the most terrifying. It would be very tempting to have a magic wand to change your child's DNA in such a way that they would not have high blood pressure. But what else would that do? Scientist are just beginning to understand how RNA and proteins magnify DNA differences and no one understands the relationship to thought patterns or behavior. Informed consent, under such circumstances, is impossible and experiments are not ethical.

      Formulating laws to deal with problems without halting reasonable research is difficult but must be persued.

And after all this research....

[Gnuontz]

Reuters will report that monkeys have have long had the ability to type Shakespeare but have never felt it to be a worthwhile endeavor...we are all actually such borderline genomic constructs that we shouldn't really exist...and that we are only using 10 percent of our genomic potential.