A consortium of federal and private researchers has just announced the first "sequencing" of the human genome, a data map that shows the location of all human DNA. What advances or problems might come of this discovery?
POSITIVE
Gene Therapy: Treatments that replace defective genes with healthy ones for diseases such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia
"Pharmacogenetics": Medicines matched to a person's genes to prevent side effects
Accurate predictions of long-term susceptibility to disease or mental disorders that can prompt preventive measures
Genetic screening that denies people jobs or health insurance on the basis of heredity susceptibility
A rise in abortions, caused when parents find out that fetuses have genetic "markers" for defects or merely for being short or weak or mentally average
Loss of medical privacy as elaborate genetic data bases are compiled
Various "Brave New World" scenarios if someone discovers how to manipulate genes for mind control or other evil ends
