Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/06/12/whats-yours-is-mine.html
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My half siblings pestered me to take one of these tests, I declined. They did manage to get my Son to do it, much to my chagrin, nothing earth shattering was discovered…
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What are you hiding?
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Good question, can I get back to you on that?
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If he’s not going to let it come out through genetic testing, I doubt he’ll tell you if you ask.
Cops are a pretty legitimate concern, even if you haven’t committed a crime, but my main reason for not having one of these tests done is not wanting that information to be freely (or cheaply) available to health insurance agencies for the purpose of discrimination based on my genetics.
I’m certain as we move forward – assuming our capitalist underpinnings don’t collapse – my resistance will be an empty gesture. At some point a genetic test will be required for any number of things.
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I could see the thermometer at the doctors office being enhanced for efficiency to sample some cheek cell laden saliva to check for a list of genetic problems. And I don’t mean this is some secret conspiratorial way even. But of course once the screening is done and the data is stored, others will find less benevolent uses if they can gain access.
Good thing large scale data breaches never happen /s
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I’ve asked a couple of the companies charging ~$1500 for a “full” sequence (not actually a full sequence) whether they will send me my raw sequence data and delete it. One didn’t respond, and the other said they would only do that if I had an institutional affiliation and a human subjects clearance. They’re a bunch of fucking scammers.
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Yes the insurance companies are likely to have a field day with this data and use it to justify high premiums for individuals with certain genes or combinations. Yes we are likely heading toward the day when you will be required to submit your DNA in order to be eligible for an quote from a health insurance company (another good reason to go single payer if you ask me).
The other scary thing is, we leave the stuff everywhere we go so it’s not like its an easy thing to keep secret. How do we prevent companies from collecting our DNA samples without us even knowing?
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The best way is to do an end run around the whole mess and institute single payer health care for all.
Good luck with that.
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I don’t need any test to tell me what percentage of ginger I am, I live with it every day.
Curse you, wretched sun!! 
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I am in full agreement with all of this and yet I also hope we somehow get an “okay just this one time” gimme with this sack of infectious human waste who was caught as a result of commercial genetic testing.
To get catastrophic-only health insurance coverage in the 1990s, I had to allow a nurse to come to my home and take several vials of blood for testing for possible future health issues (I remember that Type 2 Diabetes was one of the potential future problems listed). It was the ONLY way I could get any type of health insurance. That predates the consumer DNA testing industry by quite some years.
Insurance companies will use any means at their disposal. This is just another option for them, not anything new.
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My mother was adopted and used one of these genetic services to find her mother and various siblings. Subsequently she’s gotten a little hooked on the whole thing and gave all of her children test kits as Christmas gifts. So I’ve been through the system just to make her happy and honestly didn’t learn anything about my ancestry I didn’t already know or suspect.
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I wonder if their lack of enthusiasm has to do with their pricing model being based on retaining the data; a disinclination to let someone who might know what they are talking about(or talk to someone who does) see the quality of their work; or whether that question could be answered by the “why not both?” kid…
It seems particularly sick that they will actively solicit everyone in range to get sampled(often with rather overblown claims about the state of genetic predictive power); but won’t actually provide you your own raw data without a process closer to what you’d expect to be in place to protect research subjects. That
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Haven’t read this yet, but this seems relevant:
ETA: I do hope this Guardian piece isn’t as tone-deaf as Labour. I really haven’t read any of it, yet.
Ya, who knows. We may even get the trains running on time
Good answer, considering it’s not just what you are hiding now, but what you might be hiding in the future, and what your descendants might be hiding…
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This is how they caught the Golden State Killer.
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I’ll read it, but my first reaction is that there is one group that is, absolutely, identifiable by DNA: Ashkenazim. All the other groups can be inferred by connecting DNA with family oral and written history, but not “proven”.
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