Dr. James Watson, speaking at the Gairdner symposium, said “the time has come” for a genetic privacy law.
Watson, who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in medicine for his role in discovering the double helix structure of DNA, made the comments to an overflow crowd at the MacLeod Auditorium on Friday morning. His speech was entitled “DNA and Ethics.”
A law restricting access to personal genetic data is needed to prevent discrimination based on one’s genes, Watson said. Without such a law, insurance companies could refuse to accept clients predisposed to certain diseases and employers could refuse to hire someone for similar reasons.
Apart from privacy, Watson worries that information from the Human Genome Project isn’t being put to use quickly enough. For example, he thinks genetic screening for pregnant women should be widely available.
Concerns that genetic enhancement will widen the gap between haves and have-nots are unfounded, he said. “We all know that inequality exists, some of which is due to genetics,” said Watson.
Gene therapy should be used to enhance the abilities of the disadvantaged in order to lessen this inequality.
Watson predicted that in 20 years, we will start to see how human behaviour is influenced by our genes, predisposing some to careers as, say, undertakers (whose emotions are not easily depressed), and others to violent acts.
Once we understand the role of genetics in these matters, we could develop new medications, like a pill to “calm down” people predisposed to violence.
Photograph by Andrew Murillo
