Core Essay 3

Essay 3 on Genomic Privacy and Due October 24th
Core Sections 1, 2 & 3 Tim Fitzmaurice

In her essay on Proposition 69, Simoncelli says,

While law enforcement authorities would like us to believe that the samples will never be used for anything besides catching criminals, an unlimited span of improper uses remain plausible so long as those samples are retained. Compounding this problem is that few laws prohibit genetic discrimination by employers, insurers, or medical care providers. As more DNA is collected, and as advances in genetic research “up the ante” on its informational value, instances of discrimination and misuse will grow as well. (70)

Simoncelli’s purposes are obvious: to limit the exploitation of the collections of DNA from people in the criminal justice system, whether they are innocent or guilty. But privacy and the sharing of information about genetic information are problems with complex impacts. Should a family member know that the child they are carrying has a very high risk of Muscular Dystrophy, as in Tony Hope’s chapter on page 62 and 63 of our reader? Is the genome privileged individual knowledge or joint knowledge that family members or employers or society has a right to?
In your essay provide a description of what this kind of genomic testing and fingerprinting is. Tell me what the current laws and thoughts are about these issues and assert what you think of the right that individuals have to privacy and when they surrender those rights. Look at the Public Health Code of Ethics and decide if we need even greater clarity about the rules. Use at least three quotes from three different sources in our Reader.

The essay is due Friday.

For Monday please write an analysis of a quote from Simoncelli, a general statement about her concerns about racism or discrimination against the poor, the black, and the immigrant in her essay. Find a quote that fits this issue, please. Write it out and talk about it. You can tell me if you think this concern is justified or if such lawbreakers merit this invasion of their privacy.

I also would like a thesis statement you might use in your essay.