« July 2005 | | September 2005 »
August 30, 2005
Genetics and Affirmative Action
This week's CGREAL newsletter is now up online, but I neglected to cite one news item that's of particular interest: the NY Times magazine's feature on the really new issues (rather the old, familiar ones of abortion and gay rights) that the Supreme Court, and John Roberts, might face in the coming years.
This includes such CGREAL-related topics as genetic screening and reproductive cloning, financing of enhancement and genetic therapies, and gene patents, all issues which many have seen looming on the horizon, but which yet have before the Court.
What I was surprised to see on the list was the impact of DNA on affirmative action. While there has been a lot of the recent work of the Population Issues group has focused on how genetics is both challenging and reinforcing our traditional concept of race, its role in affirmative action has not been discussed.
How might genetics change affirmative action? One scholar suggests genetic tests may be required to prove minority status as increasing numbers fight over shrinking resources.
I'm not convinced. I'm sure that affirmative action will come before the Court again soon, but I don't think genetics will significantly change the debate. The issues around affirmative action programs are about the inherent fairness of racial preferences, not about the validity of individuals' racial identities or histories.
The increasingly popular genetic ancestry tests (which are of questionable value) do uncomfortably recall the infamous one-drop rules, and they could bee potentially misused, though not only for affirmative action. And the question of race is certainly being complicated by genetics.
August 25, 2005
New Contributor & a New Start
This, hopefully, marks a new start for the CGREAL blog, with more than just the occassional post about random news. I hope to see this blog grow into a useful and interesting venue for disseminating information and discussing issues of genetic research ethiccs and law - an outgrowth of our exciting center talks, discussions, and works.
Joining me here at the revived blog is my fellow research assistant Paola Ortiz. She has been with CGREAL since April, bringing to the center a infectious enthusiasm and a sharp insight, along with long experience with a variety of qualitative and quantitative research and a background (and hopefully, foreground) in evolutionary biology. Welcome!
August 08, 2005
Genetics in the literature
Genetics in the Literature
(all available on request)
Development
and validation of tools to assess genetic discrimination and genetically
based racism.
J Natl Med Assoc. 2005 Jul; 97(7): 980-90
Parrott RL, Silk KJ, Dillow MR, Krieger JL, Harris TM, Condit CM
It is possible that communication from mass media, public health
or consumer advertising sources about human genetics and health may
reify stereotypes of racialized social groups, perhaps cueing or exacerbating
discriminatory and racist attitudes. This research used a multifaceted
approach to assess lay perceptions of genetic discrimination and genetically
based racism (N = 644). Two tools for use in strategic planning efforts
associated with communicating about human genetics and health, the
genetic discrimination instrument (GDI) and the genetically based
racism instrument (GBRI), were derived. We recommend application of
these screening tools prior to national dissemination of messages
associated with genes and disease susceptibility, including school
and university-based curricula.
Variation
in gene expression profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells
from healthy volunteers.
Physiol Genomics. 2005 Jul 12
Eady JJ, Wortley GM, et al
The normal degree of intra- and inter-individual variation in gene transcription profiles of healthy human tissues was studied in white blood ceels. Transcript levels for the majority of genes examined were found to be remarkably consistent within samples from a single donor, while, marked differences were observed in samples obtained from different donors. The findings are important for determining how individuals may respond to different medicines and for determining nutritional needs.
Human
gene banks.
Med Ethics (Burlingt, Mass). 2005;12(1):1-2
Williams G
Heterogeneity
of the genome ancestry of individuals classified as White in the state
of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Am J Hum Biol. 2005 Jul-Aug;17(4):496-506
Marrero AR, Das Neves Leite FP, et al
Individuals classified as White, living in different localities of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, were studied in relation to mtDNA and Y-chromosome polymorphisms. In a specific population characterized by Italian immigration, the results indicated almost complete European ancestry. However, another sample identified as White, from different localities of Rio Grande do Sul, presented significant fractions of Native American (36%) and African (16%) mtDNA haplogroups. These results indicate that Brazilian populations are remarkably heterogeneous; while some present an overwhelming majority of transplanted European genomes, with a complete correspondence between physical appearance and ancestry, others reflect a history of extensive admixture with dissociation between physical appearance and ancestry.
Ethical,
legal and social issues of genetically modifying insect vectors for
public health.
Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2005 Jul;35(7):649-60
Authors: Macer D
The use of genetically modified (GM) insects for control of human disease can be consistent with common ethical norms of international society to reduce human suffering. This paper considers a range of ethical issues including animal rights, informed consent, community consensus and environmental viewpoints.
Pharmacogenomics
in admixed populations.
Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2005 Apr;26(4):196-201
Authors: Suarez-Kurtz G
Personalized drug therapy proffered by pharmacogenomics must be based on the recognition of inherent genetic individuality, rather than relying on inter-ethnic differences in the frequency of polymorphisms that affect the pharmacokinetics and targets of drugs. This is particularly significant in admixed populations, in which the substructure created by inter-ethnic crosses further increases the fluidity of racial and/or ethnic labels. Extrapolation on a global scale of pharmacogenomic data from well-defined ethnic groups is plagued with uncertainty. This review examines the challenges and advantages of studying pharmacogenomics in admixed populations, drawing examples mainly from the trihybrid populations of the Americas.
In
utero gene therapy: current challenges and perspectives.
Mol Ther. 2005 May;11(5):661-76
Authors: Waddington SN, Kramer MG, Hernandez-Alcoceba R, Buckley SM,
Themis M, Coutelle C, Prieto J
This review will examine the concepts and practice of prenatal vector administration, highlighting the advantages of early therapeutic intervention on diseases that could benefit greatly from a prenatal gene therapy approach. We will pay special attention to the strategies and vectors that are most likely to be used for this application and will speculate on their expected developments for the near future.
SNP
discovery in associating genetic variation with human disease phenotypes.
Mutat Res. 2005 Jun 3;573(1-2):41-53
Authors: Suh Y, Vijg J
In this review, we discuss genetic association studies and address the prospect for candidate gene association studies. Our focus is on the continuous need for SNP discovery methods and the use of currently available prescreening methods for large-scale genetic epidemiological research until more advanced sequencing methods currently under development will become available.
Mapping
by admixture linkage disequilibrium: advances, limitations and guidelines.
Nat Rev Genet. 2005 Jul 12;
Authors: Smith MW, O'brien SJ
Mapping by admixture linkage disequilibrium (MALD) is a theoretically
powerful, although unproven, approach to mapping genetic variants
that are involved in human disease. MALD takes advantage of long-range
haplotypes that are generated by gene flow among recently admixed
ethnic groups, such as African-Americans and Latinos. Under ideal
circumstances, MALD will have more power to detect some genetic variants
than other types of genome-wide association study that are carried
out among more ethnically homogeneous populations. It will also require
200-500 times fewer markers, providing a significant economic advantage.
Keeping
medical research ethical.
Science. 2005 Jul 8;309(5732):246
Authors: Obyerodhyambo O
A letter to the editor notes that the that local communities may participate
in research with the idea that, by becoming subjects, they are in
fact buying "insurance."
Navigating
an ethical patchwork--human gene banks.
Nat Biotechnol. 2005 May;23(5):539-45
Authors: Maschke KJ
Population genetics research collaborations are reaching increasingly
across national boundaries to access human tissue repositories. Will
discrepancies in national policies on informed consent and IP rights
hinder progress?
Linkage
of genetics and ethics: more crossing over is needed.
Biol Cell. 2005 Jul;97(7):599-604
Authors: Lissemore JL
The web sites of five different organizations that deal explicitly
with genetics and ethics are reviewed here.
Genetics in the News
DNAPrint
A company which develops and markets genetic testing products and
services has a couple interesting items in its corporate site, notably
the Product
Pipeline (which includes several ancestry tests and one to predict
eye color, billed as "the first genetics test yet developed for
predicting a complex human trait from DNA") and their answer
to the question "What
is Race?" on its FAQ. Meanwhile, John Hawks, a University
of Wisconsin-Madison anthropologist challenges
the value and the accuracy of DNAPrint's ancestry tests as perpetuating
the concept of race.
A step toward the $1,000 personal genome Researchers said they had found a faster and cheaper way to do it using readily available lab equipment that would cost only about $2.2 million, considerably cheaper than the current $20 million for a human genome. (The technique is described in Science.)
Calif.
to start testing newborns for genetic disorders
Newborns throughout the state will be screened for 75 inherited and
congenital disorders, the result of a new law that takes effect Monday.
Gene
silencing technique offers new strategy for treating, curing disease
A new technique aimed at directly controlling the expression of genes
by turning them on or off at the DNA level could lead to drugs for
the treatment or cure of many diseases
The
rise of a culture of life
The biological sciences are encouraging the move away from the ideals
of the Enlightenment towards an idea of individual perfectibility
and enhancement
August 05, 2005
Research abroad
For all the discussion on the ethics of cloning, the NYT editorial on the South Korean dog-cloing success brings up another, less-discussed issue: that other countries are pulling ahead in research and technonology developments while the U.S. efforts are hampered by political debate and financial restrictions. The South Koreans, the first to clone human embryos and extract stem cells from them, look increasingly like the world leaders in this important field of research.
August 04, 2005
Cafe Scientifique
I would love to see Case, along with other local institutions, sponsor a Cleveland Cafe Scientifique, which are now seem to be springing up in cities across the U.S. While many departments sponsor lectures and public talks, a Cafe Scientifique type of series would be an excellent way to engage the larger public and the community.
It would be particularly interesting for the CGREAL issues, since there is great public interest in genetic research, but a lot of room for education and informed debate.