If legislation passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives becomes law, it will be illegal to deny a job or health insurance on the basis of a person's genetic makeup.
With more links drawn between genetic profiles and disease predispositions every day, supporters of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act say the bill will ease patients' worries of being singled out for faulty genes.
“GINA will do more than stamp out a new form of discrimination,” said Louise Slaughter (D-New York) who introduced the bill. “It will allow us to realize the tremendous potential of genetic research without jeopardizing one of the most fundamental privacies that can be imagined.”
Such discrimination is rare, but supporters of the bill worry that as genetic testing becomes common and scientists chart the complex links between genes and health, profiling might also increase...
Wired
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