Sunday, March 18, 2007
De facto universal DNA database
Send this entry to: Del.icio.us
Spurl
Ma.gnolia
Digg
Newsvine
Reddit
I've previously argued for the expansion of DNA databases to universal coverage. The reasoning being in part that all-or-nothing coverage is in many ways preferable to the patch-work system now in place. I'm not alone in making this argument, and I find it comforting that most authors commenting on this subject agree that some kind of changes are needed. The consensus of most commentary is that greater legislative regulation and oversight is needed regardless of what direction we take.
Making action on this issue more urgent, several developments have occurred which bring us to a situation where de facto universal coverage seems likely to occur merely as an extension of current policy (without further legislative action). The first development is the finding that the STR profiles currently used in law-enforcement DNA databases are good enough to allow identification first-degree (and even second-degree) relatives in a substantial percentage of cases. While there are technical limitations to this approach, this development has the net effect of significantly expanding the number of individuals who are identifiable. The second development is one of law-enforcement technique -- the surreptitious collection of discarded DNA from targeted individuals. Regardless of the legality of individual methods used, it seems inevitable that certain forms of surreptitious collection will be legally permissible. This has the net effect of making any targeted individual's DNA open to law enforcement without a court order. Lastly, the pace of development of genotyping technologies is quickly bringing us to a point of virtually-limitless genotyping capacity. The possibilities of surreptitious DNA collection that this will open up are limited only by imagination (and the cost of human labor). All of these developments point towards a situation where a de facto universal DNA database (or a functional near-equivalent) will develop even in the absence of any changes in legislation. This appears to be a largely-unexamined issue, but it seems to call for debate and legislative action. Labels: DNA database Monday, March 12, 2007
DNA databases and DNA profiling
Send this entry to: Del.icio.us
Spurl
Ma.gnolia
Digg
Newsvine
Reddit
Everything I've read about DNA profiling and DNA databases suggests the following:
Labels: DNA database, Genetics, privacy, SNP |
10 questions for....
Parag Khanna James Flynn Jon Entine Gregory Clark György Buzsáki Heather Mac Donald Bruce Lahn A.W.F. Edwards Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza Joseph LeDoux Matthew Stewart Charles Murray James F. Crow Adam K. Webb Justin L. Barrett David Haig Judith Rich Harris Ken Miller Dan Sperber Warren Treadgold Armand M. Leroi John Derbyshire
Blogs
The GiveWell Blog Your Religion Is False Colby Cosh Steve Hsu Audacious Epigone Catallaxy Files Inductivist 2 Blowhards Genetic Future Agnostic Steve Sailer Dienekes Derek Lowe Razib Khan Razib at Comment is Free Secular Right Glenn Reynolds Jim Miller Kevin McGrew John Hawks Peter Fost Randall Parker Less Wrong Charles Murray Carl Zimmer EconLog Marginal Revolution
Principles of Population Genetics
Genetics of Populations Molecular Evolution Quantitative Genetics Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics Evolutionary Genetics Evolution Molecular Markers, Natural History, and Evolution The Genetics of Human Populations Genetics and Analysis of Quantitative Traits Epistasis and Evolutionary Process Evolutionary Human Genetics Biometry Mathematical Models in Biology Speciation Evolutionary Genetics: Case Studies and Concepts Narrow Roads of Gene Land 1 Narrow Roads of Gene Land 2 Narrow Roads of Gene Land 3 Statistical Methods in Molecular Evolution The History and Geography of Human Genes Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory Population Genetics, Molecular Evolution, and the Neutral Theory Genetical Theory of Natural Selection Evolution and the Genetics of Populations Genetics and Origins of Species Tempo and Mode in Evolution Causes of Evolution Evolution The Great Human Diasporas Bones, Stones and Molecules Natural Selection and Social Theory Journey of Man Mapping Human History The Seven Daughters of Eve Evolution for Everyone Why Sex Matters Mother Nature Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language Genome R.A. Fisher, the Life of a Scientist Sewall Wright and Evolutionary Biology Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics A Reason for Everything The Ancestor's Tale Dragon Bone Hill Endless Forms Most Beautiful The Selfish Gene Adaptation and Natural Selection Nature via Nurture The Symbolic Species The Imitation Factor The Red Queen Out of Thin Air Mutants Evolutionary Dynamics The Origin of Species The Descent of Man Age of Abundance The Darwin Wars The Evolutionists The Creationists Of Moths and Men The Language Instinct How We Decide Predictably Irrational The Black Swan Fooled By Randomness Descartes' Baby Religion Explained In Gods We Trust Darwin's Cathedral A Theory of Religion The Meme Machine Synaptic Self The Mating Mind A Separate Creation The Number Sense The 10,000 Year Explosion The Math Gene Explaining Culture Origin and Evolution of Cultures Dawn of Human Culture The Origins of Virtue Prehistory of the Mind The Nurture Assumption The Moral Animal Born That Way No Two Alike Sociobiology Survival of the Prettiest The Blank Slate The g Factor The Origin Of The Mind Unto Others Defenders of the Truth The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition Before the Dawn Behavioral Genetics in the Postgenomic Era The Essential Difference Geography of Thought The Classical World The Fall of the Roman Empire The Fall of Rome History of Rome How Rome Fell The Making of a Christian Aristoracy The Rise of Western Christendom Keepers of the Keys of Heaven A History of the Byzantine State and Society Europe After Rome The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity The Barbarian Conversion A History of Christianity God's War Infidels Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople The Sacred Chain Divided by the Faith Europe The Reformation Pursuit of Glory Albion's Seed 1848 Postwar From Plato to Nato China: A New History China in World History Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World Children of the Revolution When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World The Great Arab Conquests After Tamerlane A History of Iran The Horse, the Wheel, and Language A World History Guns, Germs, and Steel The Human Web Plagues and Peoples 1491 A Concise Economic History of the World Power and Plenty A Splendid Exchange Contours of the World Economy 1-2030 AD Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations A Farewell to Alms The Ascent of Money The Great Divergence Clash of Extremes War and Peace and War Historical Dynamics The Age of Lincoln The Great Upheaval What Hath God Wrought Freedom Just Around the Corner Throes of Democracy Grand New Party A Beautiful Math When Genius Failed Catholicism and Freedom American Judaism Policies Terms of use © http://www.gnxp.com Razib's total feed: |