Genetic Non-Discrimination: A Long-Standing Concern Deserving a New Law?

By Shawn H.E. Harmon

The possibility of improving outcomes and cost-effectiveness by tailoring therapies to patients’ genetic profiles (stratified medicine) is a dream of researchers and healthcare programmes, although at present relatively few tests are viewed as reliable.[1] 

Counterbalancing these positives, genetic information can also be used to discriminate against individuals; information about otherwise healthy people’s predisposition can affect how decisions are made in relation to a wide range of fields, including insurance (coverage, premiums, deductibles), employment (hiring, promotion, dismissal), banking (loans), education (funding, acceptance), sports (participation), and more, and has already affected people in relation to employment and insurance.[2]

Reflections on MI Movie Night - GATTACA

By Shona Kerr and Gill Haddow

On a Thursday night, in the month of April, a group of interested folks gathered in the Brass Monkey pub, on Drummond Street in Edinburgh. In a dark back room, a Mason Institute event was about to take place organised by deputy directors, Nayha Sethi and facilitated by Gill Haddow.

The gathering was about stimulating medical socio-legal discussions through the format of 1) screening a relevant movie, in this case, the sci-fi classic GATTACA and 2) following with a short talk from a researcher interested in the area. On this occasion, Shona Kerr, from the University of Edinburgh’s Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, led an animated audience discussion that continued into the bar.