TalkWeekly Poll #1: DNA Banking
Would you bank your family’s DNA? Why or why not? Post a comment and let us know!
Here’s why we’re talking about DNA banking: Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran an in-depth article on the recent push to study families with inherited cancers. Says the WSJ:
“One reason families with inherited cancers are so valuable to research is that they make it much easier to home in on the problematic genes. To find culprit genes in a vast population of patients with varying genetic makeups can be almost impossible. When the people getting the disease are all related, it is often easier for researchers to detect relevant genetic patterns.”
Or, as the head of a familial-colon-cancer study puts it, “In families, there are more needles and less haystack to search for the cause of the cancer.”
May 30th, 2006 at 12:15 pm
I’ve heard banking your DNA in youth could potentially be a valuable record for treating genetic problems later in your life. If I could guarantee privacy, I’d be open to banking my children’s DNA when ther are born.
May 30th, 2006 at 12:29 pm
Absolutely! Given some weird inherited traits and a maternal grandmother who was adopted (at a time when that left us no history of even anecdotal family genetics), I would certainly offer up my genome for future use.
May 30th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
What if the DNA database were used to search you–or your child–out as a potential criminal?
You can find more information on DNA testing and banking on http://www.geneforum.org
May 30th, 2006 at 9:14 pm
Yes, probably if it were reasonably affordable and safe. The female side of my family all have a series of auto-immune disorders like lupus and rheumatoid athritis. Surely, this family heirloom could contribute to medical advancement.
June 2nd, 2006 at 1:12 pm
I would do it. The challenge would be convincing the rest of my family to contribute to the “bank”.
June 17th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Most deffinately! Not only for research advancement (although that’s enough reason for me on its own) but for the future generations - I would love to be able to know everything I can about the mutations that run in my family, how they got passed on, etc…
October 2nd, 2006 at 2:49 am
That’s a very good idea. If more people contribute to DNA bank the better. I would definitely contribute
August 19th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Hello. I think it is a good idea to conribute to DNA. But I think that one has to be careful as long as money does not take over the morality for doing it.
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