US and EU Perspectives on Genetic Discrimination in Employment and Insurance: Striking a balance in a battlefield of competing rights

摘要: The completion of the Human Genome Project (a 13-year effort to sequence the human genome and develop a greater understanding of the genetic make-up of human beings) has opened up a new era in genetic exploration. Associated technological advances have enabled geneticists to begin to chart the genetic basis of a wide range of common diseases. The result of this rapid pace of gene technology expands the range of information about disease genes that can be readily obtained.In consideration of the rate at which genetic science is advancing, this paper explores the potential for abuse of genetic information by interested third parties such as employers and insurers. In the absence of appropriate regulation, there is a risk of misuse of genetic information. Ultimately, and most worryingly, there is potentially a risk of creating a genetic underclass and the practice of'genetic cleansing', leading to the …