ABSTRACT
First published in 2005. This second edition of Genetics DNA Technology retains the original's focus on professional lawyers. Not a law textbook, it is an adjunct to those who are studying law or want to become forensic scientists.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter 7|1 pages
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF DNA AND DNA PROFILING
We touched on the ethical considerations of databases in Chapter 6, but here it would be worth looking at the whole question of DNA profiling and the ethical
chapter |1 pages
very easy for sensitive medical information to be accessed and sold by unscrupulous individuals that had access to the DNA database. Not only that, but with the increasing use of DNA in medical situations, the absolute protection of results of analysis cannot be guaranteed against seizure by law enforcement agencies. An interesting aspect to refusing to give a sample voluntarily is that such refusal raises an air of suspicion. This in turn gives an aspect to proceedings in court which move from innocent until proved guilty towards guilty until exonerated by DNA. This is simply not how it should be. The more and more samples on the DNA database, the more likely it becomes that a chance match results in a wrongful conviction. As of early 2004, Canada and France have shown a greater degree of responsibility than the progressive belief of the Forensic Science Service that they can get away with any infringement of what is very personal information. What Canada and France have done is made it mandatory that samples from accused persons who are subsequently not charged or acquitted should not be retained. Even more sensible, if samples are taken from juveniles, even if convicted, they will be destroyed when the individual becomes a legal adult. As we in the UK seem to be marching towards institutional control of our most personal information, American law enforcement agencies are astonished that in the land of the free we seem to have no interest in a public debate of what might become not just control of information, but control of the individual. 2 Cloning as a legal issue
It is also true that scientific developments have taken place which throw up new possibilities which, rightly or wrongly, were not foreseen and cause consternation amongst the public and legislators alike. A case here would be the cloning of Dolly the sheep. This was the first cloning of an adult sheep, but although everyone seemed surprised by this it did not happen out of the blue. It should have been
chapter 7|1 pages
3 Insurance and genetics
What we are talking about here is a type of right to privacy that has never been tested before: the right to deny any access to your genetic data. If we do not have that then we become public property. It should not be forgotten that taking a sample and testing it does not actually destroy the sample. It can be stored and used later for further tests as the technology develops. Here I do not mean just
chapter |1 pages
type of gene present and therefore the probable colour of the eye. A test of this type may be available shortly since eye colour is a genetically determined trait, but more fanciful ideas of testing in the same way for height and weight are less likely to reach fruition because of the very high environmental element in these two. This example is a taste of the future. Perhaps individuals and society as a whole will not mind this sort of information being collected, but I would have grave misgivings about collection of such information. Once such tests are available, any unscrupulous regime could start eugenics programmes on very spurious grounds, but justifying them with application of a scientific test. The use of SNPs forensically is also likely to run into problems if for some reason the ones chosen for criminal investigations turn out later to reveal information about an individual’s health in some way. This may be quite subtle, such as potential for heart disease. If the test has been made and this information is a by-product of the test the question needs to asked as to whether it should have been done in the first place and, secondly, whether the tested individual should be told. The individual may not want to know but if the testing authority has information that might be used to improve the health of an individual, does it have a duty to pass this on? Or would the tested individual have the right to say that he or she has been tested for a medical condition without prior knowledge or permission as this is quite separate from the DNA profiling carried out on a sample taken only for that reason? SUMMARY
There is a complexity in ethical questions which has not in itself been adequately addressed. In the past it has been the objective of philosophers to produce general frameworks within which all societies can operate for mutual benefit. What this fails to take into account is the increasing technical complexity of our society, which brings with it questions of a unique nature that cannot be easily described