In fact, this genome map is only a draft of a map, which means it is full of errors and omissions to be corrected and filled in later, sort of like the latest computer software I purchased. It will be years, perhaps even decades, before we see any of the hoped-for miracle cures for cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and just about everything else that ails us. As metaphors go, the splitting of the atom is a better comparison. Nuclear research has given us a valuable source of energy. It has also raised the stakes of war and put the ominous cloud of nuclear annihilation over our heads.
Nothing concentrates the mind like the prospect of a mushroom cloud on the horizon.
Similarly, the decoding of the human genome holds great promise, but it also holds great peril, depending on how it is used. President Clinton has urged Congress to pass legislation that would ban such genetic discrimination in the workplace and in insurance coverage. In the meantime, he has issued an executive order barring such discrimination by federal agencies. Some 34 states have passed various anti-genetic discrimination measures, but in 26 of those states insurers still can discriminate against customers based on the genetic makeup of their relatives. But the hazards do not end there.