送交者: 自如 于 2005-7-14, 16:07:20:
回答: I reject the notion that race is surrogate for genetic profile 由 xj 于 2005-7-14, 15:15:03:
While the fact is that gene frequency does have small variations among races and in some occassion race serves as a statistically meaningful indicator for gene presence (e.g., that of sickle cell), the ethical consequence can't be ignored. The lesson from Eugenics Movement is huge and should not be forgotten. People still have big misconception about race today and promoting race-based cures may have undesirable implications.
Sciam has an article on personal medicine and it admits that "personal medicine" has a lot of ethical and practical issues to face. For example, in the genomic era, how to prevent gene-based discrimination in, say, insurance policy. This issue remains even if we can afford individual gene profiling.
In the future, people may not be discriminated on the base of race, but of gene!