DNA and Me: Personal Genomics Come to UC Berkeley

Each year, UC Berkeley starts their freshman class off On the Same Page.  Usually means each incoming freshman receives a copy of a book - last year it was the The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan - and at the beginning of the school year there are a series of discussions, seminars, and lectures about the book's topic. 

Next fall, however, instead of a book, freshmen will receive a personal genomic test that will test for three genes that help regulate the ability to metabolize alcohol, lactose and folates.  The participation is voluntary and confidential.  There will be a series of seminars and lectures in the Fall that will further investigate the future of personalized medicine.

I've been writing on the  topic of personal genomics and medicine for a little while now and this is another absolutely fascinating development.  This is an ambitious program by a major public university that attracts much attention and a lot of hand wringing  Lots of people are concerned for privacy implications and for the potentially harmful use of genetic information.

What is so interesting to me is how volatile the very idea of divulging genetic information can be in our culture.  There is such DNA mystique that a test - which reveals nothing all that harmful or intense - can be a source of such controversy.  It used to be that blood was considered to be a seat of the soul and any tempering with it was seen as evil or dangerous.  Now it is genes.  No one cares about a myriad of blood tests that we undergo in our lives - even though those possibly reveal more about our health than any gene test at the moment.  However, a genetic test arises much suspicion.  We are very afraid of Gattaca 
- a great movie that really made no scientific sense, but that I still very highly recommend.  I am fascinating with what these debates mean for how we understand the nature of genetic materials.