It seems like it wouldn't be hard to have hospitals do DNA sequencing after birth so that eventually everyone with a birth certificate had their DNA on file. The data could then be used for medical research, law enforcement, genealogy, etc.
I'm sure this would have terrible unintended consequences but I can't think of any at the moment.
False positives. When selecting from a small pool of suspects the chance of a false positive is negligible. If you are searching the entire population it is no longer negligible.
False positives mean a SWAT team knocking down your door and shooting your dog and possibly you. A false positive means your name forever associated with horrible crimes.
Universal DNA databases are an IMMENSE increase in govt power that needs to be matched by greater accountability and oversight.
I don't think the thing about false positives is actually true, though obviously it will depend on how good the crime scene sample is, and on how good the police are at their jobs.
Sure, he wasn't declared guilty, but he also got a $2 million settlement. What happened to him was bad. $2 million bad. And it was because of a poorly handled finger print. I can't imagine people in the future will be treated better because we're using DNA instead.
The data could be used by dating sites, employers, hate groups, insurance companies, human cloning labs, and would greatly help our secret police!
This is certainly unethical (informed consent) and probably illegal under federal and state law. Would you like to make your DNA available to anyone who wishes to utilize it without your consent?
I'm sure this would have terrible unintended consequences but I can't think of any at the moment.
I'm sure insurance companies would like to get their hands on this information. I can see people with certain problematic genes being unable to get life insurance for example.
By US law (GINA, passed in 2008), health insurance companies and employers are barred from discriminating on the basis of genetic results. Life insurance companies are allowed to, as is housing and schooling, interestingly enough.
It kinda makes sense that life insurance companies would be able to, or it would be really easy to abuse the system. You could do a genetic screening on yourself, and find out that you are very likely to die within x number of years... and then take out a TON of life insurance on yourself.
Maybe not a huge risk, but does present a bit of an interesting problem.
It was signed by George W. Bush(Republican) into law.
I remember being surprised because I would have thought that health care companies would have made a some kind of "free market enterprise" argument that they should be able to use DNA data to make insurance more "efficient".
This just highlights the inherent contradictions in wanting a 'free market health care system'.
People say they want a free market health care system, but also they want 'fairness'..... and most people feel that being charged more for something outside of your control is 'not fair'. These two notions are at odds.
The only way to solve this is by having a single payer, universal health care system.
The glaringly obvious one is outing the real father in cases where a woman had an affair (or was raped) and is trying to make things work with some other man.
This is potentially a huge can of worms. Irrefutable evidence that Pillar of the Community is Daddy to multiple children because he's a serial philanderer or serial rapist is generally pretty explosive news that can tear apart whole communities, especially in small towns or religious communities.
I'm sure this would have terrible unintended consequences but I can't think of any at the moment.