Some info isn t as unique or private as it seems Robert Gellman Imagine it s a few years before the turn of the century. Scientists have produced a technological miracle with almost unlimited promise for improving health. A new way of examining human tissue permits the collection of information never before available.
Physicians can diagnose diseases years before they can be found by conventional methods.
This new technique even allows for predictions about hereditary illnesses. What I had in mind was the emergence of the X-ray machine, which was invented in 1895. Yet the similarities between X-ray photography and gene mapping are striking. In both instances, people responsible for early discoveries were awarded the Nobel Prize. Both technologies captured the popular imagination and offered new forensic tools as well as new threats to privacy.