
$1,000 Personal Genome Coming: Are We Ready? - jacquesm
http://www.webmd.com/news/20100429/1000-dollar-personal-genome-coming-are-we-ready
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AngryParsley
Of course we're ready. Not knowing about a disease risk doesn't make it go
away. Yes, some people will be saddened by new knowledge of their genome. But
in the cost-benefit analysis, that downside is _overwhelmed by the massive
improvement in medical care_. Customized medicine. Preventative care.
Screening embryos for diseases. Etcetera etcetera. So many lives will be
saved. So many lives will be improved. So what if some irrational people feel
bad?

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simplify
Who's going to pay for the curing of these diseases? Insurance companies? I'm
sure the more popular diseases will become cheap enough for anyone to afford,
but who's to say insurance companies won't deny you coverage to an uncommon
disease based on the information your genome gives?

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AngryParsley
There's already a law preventing insurance companies and employers from
discriminating based on genetics:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_Information_Nondiscrimi...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_Information_Nondiscrimination_Act)

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akira_x
The benefits are huge of the knowledge learned with knowing your genome. My
fear is that it takes us one step closer to the society in Gattaca. I envision
that it will start in the sports world where athlete's genomes will be used to
determine their athletic potential. Its amazing that the cost is so low, but I
can't help but ponder the possible negatives.

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hugh3
Everybody talks about the society in Gattaca as if it's a bad thing, but what
was really that bad about it? It kinda sucked for those who were born
unenhanced, but give it another fifty years and there probably won't be any of
those any more (they'll eventually figure out you can just freeze your sperm
and have a vasectomy at puberty).

For everybody else, life might not have been perfect, but it was a lot better
in many ways than life is today. It wasn't shown on screen, but they'd
presumably gotten rid of an awful lot of horrible genetic diseases, and
probably eradicated poverty by ensuring everybody has at least the minimum
intelligence level required to make a decent living.

Oh, and also: everyone was pretty.

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JshWright
> and probably eradicated poverty by ensuring everybody has at least the
> minimum intelligence level required to make a decent living

So all we have to do to eliminate poverty is to get rid of the stupid people?

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hugh3
That's my hypothesis, anyway.

