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The University of California Berkeley is facing a significant amount of negative feedback for their new “On the Same Page” program, which encourages first year students to submit a sample of their DNA.  The university plans on sending out cotton swabs by mail to their incoming freshman to invite them to become part of the project that would test them for their genetic responses to three different substances; alcohol, folic acid and lactose.  Representatives of the program claim that the information is purely to give students an idea about genetic influences and to give them a chance to better know themselves from a scientific point of view.  These three substances were chosen because students should not feel traumatized  regardless of the results.  UC Berkeley genetics professor Jasper Rine was quoted in an email saying “Our view was to select genes in which a student could either ignore what they learned, and be no worse off than they were before, or could use the information constructively if they choose, such as to tune their intake of dairy products.”

Critics claim that, although a privacy protocol has been designed to keep the results completely private to anyone but the genetic owner, this kind of information is very volatile and could end up in the hands of the wrong people.  Many pharmaceutical companies and life insurance companies actively seek this kind of information and thus these tests should not be taken lightly.   Even if these tests appear to be of benign use they could be taken out of context and could violate the privacy of the students.

Proponents of the “On the same page” genetic testing program say they did not expect such strong opposition from the community.  “We didn’t choose the topic to provoke a wave of publicity,” said Mark Schlissel, the dean of biological sciences in Berkeley’s College of Letters and Science. He added, “We thought that talking about genetic testing and personalized medicine would be most engaging if we got students involved.”

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What do you think about genetic projects involving students? Is it naïve to think that these tests will be carefully controlled with individual privacy respected?   Although the testing is voluntary, do you think the name “On the Same Page” puts pressure on all students to participate?

Reference : The Los Angeles Times and The Daily Californian

Tags: DNA Testing, On the Same Page, The University of California Berkeley, USA