What dispute in the Human Genome Project?
I thought they were almost done mapping it all already.
Haha, they are done mapping it, the problem now is patenting it. Most things, books and movies and such, are easy to claim rights to, because they are entirely created by one person, but to say who owns the genes in your body is another story.
Actually, the courts are siding with the businesses currently; a few years back, while still studying the human genome, there was a court case concerning a man whose genes they were studying. He wanted to drop out, but because they claimed they "owned his genes" the case was taken to court, and the man lost the case and legally wasn't allowed to drop out.
Another huge problem is, after we start using it, we may be able to know everything that genetically can or one day will occur in any given person. We will be able to tell before a person even starts having any sort of symptoms, that in their life they will get diabetes. Normally we thing, hey that's good, we will catch it before it's a problem; but if we know these things that early into the game, who has rights to the information? Parents? Doctors? Government? Employers? Insurance companies? If you are going to end up sick, why would employers want to hire you at that kind of risk? Why would insurance companies cover you if you are a high risk cancer case, and why would they not overcharge you to stayed covered?
There was also a court case concerning that, where again law sided with the businesses, where a mining company made all their employees take a genetics test to see if they had the genes for Carpal's Tunnel syndrome (a disorder that effects the arm, wrist, and hand, causing excruciating amounts of pain, that developed often in miners from the constant exertion, or in other words, another cost to the company who now must pay sick leave and not get labor in return). All the workers who had the gene were fired, so when they eventually developed it, the company wouldn't have to pay for them to be out sick. When the case was taken to court, the business won the case.
Its a newly developing kind of prejudice forming based on accordance to genetic information.
o.o Well... That was a lot of ranting... I could really go on and on about it but... you guys don't want to hear all this stuff