Holiday Gift Giving: Should You Give Your Loved One A Genome Scan?

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Lori Andrews by Lori Andrews

With TIME Magazine dubbing the 23andme personalized genome scan the “2008 Invention of the Year,” you might be tempted to give your loved one his or her genetic profile for the holidays.  After all, what says I love you more than letting that special someone peek inside their own genome?  Or what about setting aside your usual New Years Eve revelry and sponsoring a spit party—where your guests can get an on-the-spot genetic tests?

The initial idea for a genetic profile as a gift did not originate with an entrepreneur or scientist, but with an artist. When the wife of a patron of arts asked Iñigo Manglano Ovalle to create a surprise portrait of her husband for his birthday, Ovalle conspired with the patron’s barber to pluck some hair from the man’s head and test it genetically.  Ovalle’s painted bands, based on the test results, looked like the forensic profiles used at the time in law enforcement and revealed no health information.  But the testing techniques used to produce the $399 genome scan offered by 23andme, as well as the tests offered by its competitors deCODE Genetics and Navigenics, do reveal potential future conditions including blindness, cancer, and risks of mental illness.

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Millionaire MD Consultants? – Big Pharma Promises Better Disclosure

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JulieBergerBy Julie Burger

University medical centers are cutting down on relationships with drug and device manufacturers.  Less free pizza, less free pens.  That’s great, since studies show that even nominal gifts can influence prescribing and practice habits.  But it turns out that cold hard cash rather than trinkets might be the real culprit.

Conflict of interest and government grant funding rules say that investigators on federally funded studies must report whether they receive $10,000 or more a year from, for example, the drug company which makes the drug being studied.  A Congressional investigation spearheaded by Sen. Charles Grassley (R, IA) has highlighted several troublesome alleged undisclosed conflicts of interest incidents: psychiatrist Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff of Emory University reportedly failed to disclose $1.2 million in outside income from drug makers (including money from GlaxoSmithKline) while running a $3.9 million taxpayer-funded study to test GlaxoSmithKline drugs; Drs. Joseph Biederman and Timothy Wilens of Harvard each earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug makers but reportedly stated they earned only several hundred thousand dollars; Dr. Melissa DelBello of Univ. of Cincinnati allegedly reported around $100,000 from 8 drug companies over two years, while one alone had paid her $238,000.

I don’t know about you, but I would sure notice an extra million dollars in my bank account.  Even a cool hundred K would make a noticeable impact.

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EPA Announces Regulations for Carbon Nanotubes and Nanoparticles: Regulates Nanomaterials as Chemicals

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Jake Meyer by Jake Meyer

On October 31 and November 5, 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced regulatory policies relating to nanotechnology.  The EPA defines nanotechnology as involving “research and technology development at the atomic, molecular or macromolecular levels, in the length scale of approximately 1 – 100 nanometer range; the creation and use of structures, devices and systems that have novel properties and functions because of their small size; and the ability to control or manipulate matter on an atomic scale.”  Despite the EPA’s recognition of “novel properties and functions” due to the size of nanotechnology, the EPA appears to be regulating nanotechnology as if it were more ordinary than extraordinary.  The EPA’s October and November 2008 regulations apply the Toxic Substances and Control Act (TSCA), which is used to regulate chemical substances and mixtures, to nanotechnology.

The TSCA classifies chemical substances as either an “existing” chemical substance or as a “new” chemical substance.  A company must file a notice with the EPA 90 days before manufacturing or processing “new” chemical substances.  “Existing” chemical substances are also subject to a 90 day notification requirement if an activity is a “significant new use” of the “existing” chemical substances.  The notification provides the EPA with an opportunity to evaluate the chemical substance and if necessary, to limit or prohibit use of the chemical substance.  If a chemical substance is considered an “existing” chemical substance without a “significant new use,” then there is no notification requirement.

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Should Native American Identity Be Based on Genetics?

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Lori Andrews by Lori Andrews

In the 1700s and 1800s, runaway slaves joined Native American tribes like the Cherokee and Seminoles.  For generations, these black men and women were full-fledged members of the tribe, taking up arms on the side of the Indians.  In modern times, the African-American members of the Native American nations, known from the beginning as Cherokee Freedmen and Seminole Freedmen, have continued to live on reservations and serve as tribal councils.

As Native Americans gain funds from casinos and from lawsuits against the government for past misdeeds, some tribes are looking for ways to limit membership.  When the Seminoles received a settlement of $96 million from the federal government for land unjustly taken from them, the tribe did not allow the African-American Indians, the Freedmen, to participate.  And last year, the Cherokee tribe voted to revoke the tribal citizenship of the Freedmen.  By stripping over 2,700 Freedmen of their tribal membership, the Cherokees denied them health care access, money for schooling and other Native American benefits.

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An Antibiotic a Day … Keeps the Patient Away? Use of Placebos Raises Health Concerns and Ethical Questions

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JulieBergerBy Julie Burger

A recent survey of American physicians found that nearly half routinely prescribe placebo treatments—treatments that do not have a physiological mechanism of working but might make the patient feel better because of the patient’s belief the treatment will work.  The most commonly reported prescribed “placebos” were pain relievers, vitamins, antibiotics and sedatives. 

Though they are being described as “placebos,” these are hardly the sugar pills envisioned by most people when placebos are mentioned.  Given recent concerns of superbugs and drug resistant bacteria, prescribing antibiotics when the patient doesn’t actually have an infection seems, at the least, counterproductive.  Antibiotics also kill beneficial bacterial naturally found in the body which can trigger other health problems.  Pain killers might mask symptoms, leading the patient to fail to recognize a problem.  The over prescription of sedatives seems even more dangerous.  All medications have side effects and some people prefer to minimize their exposure to these potentially harmful substances.  Prescribing medication knowing that it isn’t necessary but hoping that the patient’s expectations will help their condition takes away the patient’s right a choice about ingesting medication.

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Can Genetic Technology Finger Errant Dog Owners?

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Tim WelchBy Tim Welch

To scoop, or not to scoop?  That is the question.  Residents of two towns in Italy and Israel may be facing potential fines if they opt for the latter.  City officials in Vercelli and Petah Tikva are taking advantage of genetic testing technology to promote cleanliness in their municipalities.  They are creating DNA databases of all registered dogs and testing droppings left behind on the streets.  Finally fed up with owners who carelessly leave behind their puppies’ poop in public areas, these two cities will hand out fines to any citizen whose dog is identified as a match in the database.  The Israeli program also offers incentives to pet owners who place their dogs’ waste into special municipal bins.  Incentives include dog toys and pet food coupons.

In Vercelli, a small northern Italian city of 45,000 residents, the lack of attention to current laws regarding cleaning up after pets prompted the idea for a doggy DNA database.  “If signs and invitations aren’t enough, we’ll try genetics.  I want a clean city,” said Antonio Prencipe, a city councilor.

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