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I’m sick of reading about the dangers of the genome. There are lots of popular articles I could point to, but let’s start with a recent series in Time that included eight online features and the Dec. 13 cover story, ominously titled “The DNA Dilemma.”
The series, written by Bonnie Rochman, is thoroughly reported, balanced, and full of fascinating personal stories about children whose genomes have been sequenced. It’s also timely: The primary question Rochman raises—how much information is too much information?—has been dominating commentaries about genetic testing in the medical literature.
But this is the wrong question, or at least one that’s becoming increasingly irrelevant.
With the wealth of genetic information (at a reasonable price) available to the public, there are ethical questions that arise. Some might panic about individuals having too much information about their own DNA, but this author suggests that we can handle it.