Does Genetic Research Threaten Our Civil Liberties？The Current Genetic ResearchThe science

Does Genetic Research Threaten Our Civil Liberties？

The Current Genetic Research

The science of genetics is a flourishing new industry, nourished in large part by the federally funded Human Genome Project. The goal of this ambitious research endeavor is to identify every gene found in the human body, perhaps 100,000 in all. Several months ago, the U.S. government and a private corporation announced that they had "completed" the "map" of the genome, although actually there are still many gaps. Much related research focuses on genetic diagnostics-- tests designed to identify genes thought to be associated with various medical conditions. More than 50 new genetic tests have been identified in the past five years alone.

The increasing speed, sophistication, affordability, and interconnectivity of computer systems allow the rapid monitoring and matching of many millions of records. A 1994 benchmark study by the ACLU found that "concerns about personal privacy run deep among the American people".

The promotion of an ideology of geneticization fosters the belief that genes are determinative of an individual's behavior, character, and future. Capitalist economic relations have created a scramble (争夺) for venture capital, the altering of patent laws, and calls for mass genetic testing by researchers who trade on the old image of the altruistic scientist to mask their conflicts of interest in testing labs, patents, consulting contracts, etc.

The Technological Society

Technologies are not value-neutral; they usually embody the perspectives, purposes, and political objectives of powerful social groups. The dominant ideology in Western society proclaims that science and technology are value-neutral, and the only problems caused by technologies are either "externalities" (unintended side effects) or abuses. However, because technologies are the result of human interventions into the otherwise natural progression of activities (and not acts of God or of nature), they are themselves actually imbued with human intentions and purposes. Current technologies do not equally benefit all segments of society (and indeed are not intended to do so), although to maximize public support for these developments and to minimize potential opposition, their proponents rarely acknowledge these distributional ramifications (分歧).

The United States is a society in which the differential access to wealth and power has been exacerbated during recent years. Thus, those people with more power can determine the kinds of technological developments that are researched and implemented. Because of their size, scale, and requirements for capital investments and for knowledge, modem technologies are powerful interventions into the natural order. They tend to be the mechanisms by which already powerful groups extend, manifest, and further consolidate their powers. Thus, technologies themselves are not neutral; they are social and political phenomena. Genetic technologies and computerization exhibit these characteristics, and reflect power differentials in the society.

The results of technological advancement appear to offer a good future capabilities of enhanced surveillance (监视) and control over people and events, as well as promises of perfectionism (thus leading to both a loss of privacy and increased opportunities for discrimination by powerful entities). Predictability will replace a tolerance for natural variation and diversity.

Loss of Privacy

Genetic privacy, like medical privacy in general, involves notions of the dignity and integrity of the individual. Is data accurate？ Can individuals access their own files？ Can the donor correct inaccurate data？ Are the custodians faithful and are technical security systems protecting the data where possible？ Does the individual have control over which third parties are allowe

A．Y

B．N

C．NG