The DNA fingerprint does not belong only to the individual, but to his or her family as well. Testing an individual will yield information about all of that individuals family members. Their right to privacy is another question facing the ELSI team. One major new technology soon to available everywhere is the gene chip, a computer-assisted testing device. When the gene chip is perfected and available, thousands of diseases and conditions will be able to be checked cheaply and quickly.
Discrimination is claimed whenever the insurance companies use genetic information to deny coverage.
If the insurance company provides coverage for someone whom they know will cost them money, they are going to go out of business. Discrimination is built into the system and simply because there are new tools for use by the system does not mean that discrimination has just started. Discrimination is now more accurate, and done more quickly, to more people. Now that companies have the technology to identify those genes, they can base decisions on accurate genetic information, instead of less accurate information. By citing a law that protects an individual's right to genetic privacy, a person can keep confidential the information that he or she is at high risk for heart disease, Huntington's disease, or any other debilitating or life-threatening condition, in order to be awarded coverage.