2019....looks like a good year for a science fiction movie...does it? 2019 will be here in just a bit more that 3500 days! What can be achieved in 3500 days? A lot! I remember seeing the GATTACA movie (more than 3500 days ago), I remember finding it realistic and scary. I remember thinking of George Orwell's 1984, which I read in 1984 (just a bit more than 3500 days before)! I also know how weak humans can be compared to big corporations. Imagine....2019. Imagine having your own genome sequences before you can even recognize the letters A, C, G and T. Imagine your data being downloaded to an insurance company computer. Do not get me wrong, I love the fact that we might be able to prevent horrible diseases, I love the fact that some children will be able to achieve their true potential because they will be taken care of at the right time....but there is a dark side to that story and I know we, humans, have a record of creating problems at a much faster rate than we can find solutions for the same problems.....
Every baby born a decade from now will have its genetic code mapped at birth, the head of the world's leading genome sequencing company has predicted.
A complete DNA read-out for every newborn will be technically feasible and affordable in less than five years, promising a revolution in healthcare, says Jay Flatley, the chief executive of Illumina.
Only social and legal issues are likely to delay the era of “genome sequences”, or genetic profiles, for all. By 2019 it will have become routine to map infants' genes when they are born, Dr Flatley told The Times.
source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5689052.ece
0 comments:
Post a Comment