DNA Video: Choosing a Child’s Sex

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted March 22, 2008 in DNA Podcasts and Videos

Aspen Institute
Aspen, CO
Jul 3rd, 2007

Philosopher Michael Sandel and medical researcher William Haseltine debate ethical issues in genetic engineering, in a conversation with the Aspen Institute’s Elliot Gerson.

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Books About DNA: Life As It Is by William Loomis

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted March 21, 2008 in Books About DNA, DNA Quotes and Excerpts, DNA in General

Life As It Is by William F. Loomis

Book Description:

“This concise, accessible book considers from a biological perspective the controversial issues of our day: abortion, euthanasia, engineered evolution, cooperativity, and the future of sustainable life on this planet. Exploring in fascinating detail the processes by which cells come into being and multiply, Loomis clearly and simply explains the latest in complex biological research. He reviews recent insights into molecular and human evolution, the role of DNA sequences in determining traits, and the biological basis for consciousness, all of which, he argues, need to be considered when making life-and-death decisions and wrestling with questions about the limits to intervention.”

via Philip Manning’s Science Book News #97

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More on Collecting DNA from Children for National DNA Databases

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted March 20, 2008 in DNA and the Law

Sara Gaines at Guardian’s Joe Public blog has outed me as a bully in a discussion about children’s DNA in the UK national database. There’s also more from Evan Maloney at the Splat! Blog who coins the word “DNAed” for someone whose DNA is being collected:

Personally I’m all for the idea of dobbing in five year olds to the cops before they break the law. What a change in class-room behaviour that would create for primary teachers. Next time Wally the class clown is cracking jokes instead of listening to teacher, the teacher can respond with a sharp, ‘Listen Wally, if you don’t shut it right now I’m going to take a sample of your DNA and send it to the cops!’

On that note, I wonder what sort of behaviour would qualify for DNA sampling of five-year olds? Would it have to be violent or could any disruptive kid qualify for sampling? Maybe kids who keep forgetting to bring their books to class can get DNAed just because they’re annoying.

One Splat! Blog commenter NanaMex ponders a sci-fi scenario:

Of all of the uses of science this one scares me the most. Imagine, if you will, DNA specific viruses aimed at wiping out persons of specific heritage. This thought first came to me when the murder happened on Norfolk island and the DNA of every person living on the island was collected. There you have a genetically unique group of people, and the island would be a perfect laboratory for such experimentation.

With a gene data base such as would be collected under this kind of program genetically specific viruses would be easier to fabricate. Imagine being able to commit genocide, wiping out specific races, without harming those around them.

This idea is very similar to the premise of The Odyssey Gene by Kfir Luzzato in which the population is segregated into those who have or don’t have a specific variant of the “Davies Gene” that grants immunity to a fatal infectious disease.

And yet another Splat! Blog commenter, harlequin of sydney, penned a poem:

If you go into school today
Be prepared for a big surprise
They’ll take a sample of your DNA
If they catch you telling lies
Or handing homework in too late,
not doing what you’re told,
Asking little Nancy for a date,
Being forward and way too bold

So here’s my advice, handle it this way:
Take your homework in on time
Volunteer a bubble of your DNA
It makes a paper-glue sublime
Then when you hand your homework in
Watch the expression on teacher’s face
When they realise why you didn’t need a pin
And why your work is all white space

By the way, it is highly likely that we’ll have international DNA databases in the future. The U.S. and Germany are already talking about sharing fingerprint and DNA data with each other.

What do you think of collecting DNA from children? Take the poll in the right sidebar.

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Affymetrix and Illumina Moving Gene Chip Manufacturing to Singapore

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted March 19, 2008 in Business of DNA, DNA Around the World

Here’s one more sign that companies involved with personal genomics may be tightening their belts. Gene chip makers Affymetrix and Illumina are both outsourcing manufacturing from the U.S. to Singapore.

Affymetrix president Kevin King:

Affymetrix is consolidating its manufacturing operations to further increase operational efficiencies, enabling us to remain more competitive in the marketplace. Our recent manufacturing advances have enabled us to produce more (GeneChip) array volumes with a smaller manufacturing footprint.

One of the Affymetrix products to be manufactured in Singapore is the new Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0, which can analyze more than 1.8 million DNA markers.

Affymetrix has already begun laying off workers in their West Sacramento, California manufacturing plant and will be making the move to Singapore by the end of 2008 where they opened a 150,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in 2006. Possible reasons for outsourcing genetic test manufacturing to Singapore include:

• Cheaper labor costs – production workers in Singapore averaged $8.55/hour in 2006 compared to $23.82 per hour in the U.S.
• Lower tax rates
• Faster-growing demand for arrays in China and India make manufacturing in Singapore more cost effective

China’s genomic biotechnology is definitely on the rise. At the beginning of this year, the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) announced the complete sequencing of the fourth human genome in the world. BGI also formed a partnership with whole genome sequencing company, Knome. In terms of the local personal genomics markets in China and India, there may be great potential but not for the vast majority of people. For the time being, only the rich and famous in developing countries will have access and the chance to be “exploited” like the rest of the elite, according to Jesse Reynolds at The Cutting Edge News.

In the end, it’s all about the bottom line. Affymetrix chief financial officer John Batty:

I think from an economics standpoint, we have an incentive to get it to at least 50 percent [of Singapore plant capacity] because we can shield half of our revenue from the U.S. tax rate by manufacturing arrays in Singapore and shipping those to non-U.S. customers.

I have no doubts about Singapore producing high quality products for use in genetics/genomics. On the other hand, when outsourcing extends to China and other countries with a less educated workforce, it would be worth remembering that standards of quality control vary between countries. For proof, check out what writer James Fallows observed with airplane refueling techniques in Japan vs. China.

Hey, whatever gets the job done, right?

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Geeky DNA T-Shirt: MIT Biological Engineering

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted March 18, 2008 in Geeky DNA T-shirts

Transgenic animals can be fantastical things. MIT Biological Engineering undergrads designed t-shirts featuring animals verbalizing in unexpected voices, including this turtle mooing.

Who knew MIT students had such a charming sense of humor!

via Free Genes, Genome Technology

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Collecting DNA from Innocent Children to Prevent Crime

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted March 17, 2008 in DNA and the Law, Polls About DNA

If it were up to Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman* for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), my DNA would have been put in a national database from the time I started school. Yes, I admit I was a little bully and perhaps that would have identified me as a future offender although I don’t think I’m quite bad enough to lock up. Yet….

Pugh claims that criminology studies show children as young as five will behave in ways which predict their potential to commit crime in the future. These “problem children” should have their DNA collected for crime prevention.

If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in the long-term the benefits of targeting younger people are extremely large. You could argue the younger the better. Criminologists say some people will grow out of crime; others won’t. We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society.

By committing children’s DNA to the national database, Pugh asserts that society will save money and suffer less crime. It’s estimated that in the UK, 1.5 million samples of DNA from 10 to 18-year-olds will be in the national DNA database by March 2009. Similar collection procedures apply to juveniles as well as to adults who can be asked to give a DNA sample upon arrest even if they are not charged or convicted.

A recent report from the think-tank Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) called for children to be targeted between the ages of five and 12 with cognitive behavioural therapy, parenting programmes and intensive support. Prevention should start young, it said, because prolific offenders typically began offending between the ages of 10 and 13.

As a parent, I have observed that certain children do seem to exhibit more “problem” behavior than others but it is very difficult to tell whether that is due to evil temperament that won’t change or if it’s the result of family environment or who knows what other mysterious factors that mold our behavior. No criminology assessment can be 100% predictive and there is no way I would allow my child’s DNA to be systematically collected for a DNA database unless every single citizen is mandated by law to give theirs too.

Pugh suggests that we stop thinking of DNA so emotionally.

Fingerprints, somehow, are far less contentious. We have children giving their fingerprints when they are borrowing books from a library.

I did not know libraries fingerprint their users but guess what? I think it’s nuts too!

Putting aside that no sane adult would want their DNA in a national database without good reason, what about our children? What kind of world are we living in when innocent children are viewed not in terms of their positive potential but in terms of their criminal potential?!

What do you think about collecting DNA from innocent children? Take the poll after the break.

*DNA spokesman? Sounds like a newly created job title. If you’re looking for a DNA spokesperson, email me! I’m available.

Continue reading…

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Eye on DNA Blog Readability

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted March 16, 2008 in DNA Fun

The Blog Readability Test: What level of education is required to understand your blog?

via kitchen table math, the sequel

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DNA Video: Craig Venter Giving the Richard Dimbleby Lecture

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted March 15, 2008 in DNA Podcasts and Videos

Title: A DNA-Driven World

Aired: December 4, 2007 on BBC 1

Gene pioneer Dr. J. Craig Venter gives the 32nd Richard Dimbleby Lecture. One of the principal scientists who decoded the human genome is about to create the first artificial life form on Earth. So what does the future hold in A DNA-Driven World?

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DNA Quote: Steven Pinker

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted March 14, 2008 in DNA Quotes and Excerpts

“With constitutional factors (genes and chance) being important but invisible, people tend to blur cause and effect in thinking back on supposedly formative childhood vignettes. …Rather than childhood experiences causing us to be who we are, who we are causes our childhood experiences.”

~Steven Pinker, experimental psychologist at Harvard University, in Curious Minds.

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Navigenics to launch in April 2008?

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted March 13, 2008 in DNA Testing

No sign of an imminent launch on the Navigenics website but Portfolio.com reporter David Ewing Duncan said in an article dated March 5, 2008:

The Bay Area-based Navigenics will open for business next month with a site devoted to the DNA of disease, with WebMD-like links to A-list medical institutions and a feature the other two websites do not have—phone access to live genetic counselors. Navigenics plans to charge about $2,500, compared with about $1,000 for 23andMe and deCODEme.

Genomeboy Misha Angrist received a 20%-off coupon in early February but as far as I know, there was no launch date mentioned. Their website was launched in August of last year. Does anyone know if Navigenics will finally open its doors in April 2008?

By the way, Duncan also doesn’t think that the DNA testing market will ever reach the heights of the 90’s dotcoms or produce companies the size of Microsoft or Google. But with the help of tech people like Mike Arrington at TechCrunch tooting the genetic testing horn, I wouldn’t sell the business potential of genetic testing short. At least we can count on genetics and genomics to revolutionize healthcare and medicine as we know it.

Update: Navigenics will be launching in New York City on April 17. Official announcement via Genome Technology.

April 8, 2008 – Navigenics Health Compass is now available for purchase. For more, see my interview with Genetic Counseling Program Director, Elissa Levin.

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