There are a few things I’d like to share. I’m at greater than normal risk of developing Crohn’s disease, Tourette syndrome and losing a testicle or two to cancer. On the bright side, the odds are I’ll never develop Type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis. My IQ and episodic memory fall into the “typical” range (go to town with that one, Punchers).

Can we just snip out that f(*&*king Tourette Syndrome gene? Pic: Supplied

Although I’m of 99 per cent European extraction, my mother’s people are Haplogroup J, which arose in the Middle East 45,000 – 50,000 years ago. On my father’s side I’m Haplogroup R1b1b2a1a2f, which most likely formed in Turkey about 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age.

How do I know all this? Did I subject myself to an exhaustive battery of medical tests and spend millions of dollars tracing my genealogy back into the mists of time? Well, no. I spat into a vial, mailed it off, then logged on to a website a few weeks later to have the mysteries of my genetic code laid bare. 

Eight years ago, the three billion DNA letters in the human genome were sequenced. Three years ago — by which time the cost of testing had dropped to a mass-marketable level — Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, kick-started the ‘retail genomics’ industry, launching a personal genomics and biotech company called 23andMe. Nowadays, anyone with few hundred dollars and a mouthful of spittle to spare can quickly and easily obtain estimates of their predisposition to everything from baldness to blindness to bladder cancer.

Granted, only a few early adopters — typically well-educated, well-heeled professionals — have thus far availed themselves of the retail genomics industry’s services; the general public is largely unaware it even exists, and it has thus far had pretty much zero impact on the way society functions.

But two decades ago you could have said much the same things about the internet and we all know how that turned out. With the cost of testing predicted to continue to fall sharply, many experts believe that over the next five years almost all of us will have our genome sequenced and be disabused of any romantic assumptions regarding our ethnic heritage or blissful ignorance about which medical conditions will blight our future. If there’s the will to do so, recessive genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis could be bred out within a generation.

If you’re starting to get the impression at this point that the emergence of mass DNA testing is going to pop the lid off a supersized can of worms, well, you’d be right. There are about one million healthy carriers of the recessive gene for cystic fibrosis in Australia, most of whom currently have no idea they are carriers.

Once they have all been identified by mass genetic testing, should they be forbidden from having children with each other? (If you think that’s a far-fetched scenario, be aware that the government of Cyprus, determined to eliminate a severe hereditary anemia called Thalassemia, tested its citizens and strongly discouraged carriers from marrying each other. The disease has now been all but eliminated, though no-one knows how many hearts were broken in the process.)

If — for religious or other reasons — a couple of carriers pair up and choose to take their chances, do they then have any right to expect the rest of the community to fund the care of their child if it is born with cystic fibrosis?

Here’s a few other questions:

  • Which organisations are going to have access in the future to the priceless genetic databases companies such as 23andMe (part-owned by Google) are building up?
  • What will be the impact on the funding of medical research once everyone knows which diseases they are likely to be afflicted with?
  • Will the laws forbidding insurers and employers from engaging in genetic discrimination — introduced by governments a few years ago when they woke up to the implications of widespread testing — prove to be as ineffective as those outlawing the identification and subsequent abortion of female foetuses in Asian countries?
  • Will an individual’s fate be set in stone once the results of its genetic test, likely to be conducted soon after birth, are revealed?

The ancestry aspect of these tests comes fraught with its own set of exquisite dilemmas. How long until an enterprising uni student gets tested, discovers he has Aboriginal heritage and makes a case that he should be entitled to Abstudy? What happens to a person’s sense of identity when they discover the family mythology about their origins is a fairytale? (Oprah Winfrey, having decided she was descended from Zulus, was reportedly devastated when a DNA test proved her ancestors were members of a less glamorous African tribe.)

No-one has yet worked out the answers to any of those questions, but it seems we all better get cracking on it quick smart.

Nigel Bowen has written an article about the rise of retail genomics for the current issue of GQ.

Most commented

70 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Erick says:

      06:10am | 30/05/11

      This is going to be a controversial field, indeed! Wait for the fun as conclusive evidence proves that there are real behavioural differences between races, and that the mental differences between men and women are inborn, not socialised. A lot of politically correct worldviews are going to come crashing down.

      On a more mundane level, but one that still has profound social implications, it’s estimated that as many as one in ten men are victims of paternity fraud. What’s going to happen when it’s cheap and easy to find out whether a man is really the father of “his” children?

      Then of course, looking to the future - what if parents can choose the race of their children by genetic manipulation? Or higher intelligence, or good looks? Fun and games!

    • marley says:

      08:56am | 30/05/11

      Well, I wouldn’t be too worried about the “racial” differences since the genetic differences between what we think of as races are no greater than the variations within races.  In other words, there’s more variation within the “black” race alone than between the “black” and “white” races. 

      As to differences between men and women, well, there are obvious physical ones, and, lets face it, some of our behaviour is certainly influenced by hormones, so it wouldn’t surprise me much if some of the differences are inborn.  I don’t think I’m being politically incorrect to say that, since I go on to say that those differences are not differences that affect intelligence or human worth.  On that ground, we are all as good (or bad) as one another.

      As for the gene testing for parentage, I think that’s already happening.

    • Sony B Goode says:

      09:06am | 30/05/11

      It’s already happening, and socialists are rewriting history as we speak, evolutionary biology apparently they always supported and never doubted even when they did.

      They will want to tax us on our genetic potential next. Can’t have anyone being smarter or having an unfair advantage over anyone else, that’s not equity they will cry. How can we have a “truer and juster” when some people clearly have an advantage over others?

    • Warren says:

      09:16am | 30/05/11

      ” as conclusive evidence proves”

      Yeah, then your mum woke you up.

    • David LD says:

      10:29am | 30/05/11

      And we’ll have to fight troglodytic conservative morons like you the whole damn way.

    • Erick says:

      11:18am | 30/05/11

      Marley, the fact that variations within groups may be greater than variations between groups does not invalidate the fact that differences between groups are significant.

      For example, the variations in height among men and women are far greater than the difference in average height between men and women. Yet it is still a significant fact that men tend to be taller than women.

      These group differences are real, and have an impact in the real world, despite attempts to rationalise them away with sophistry.

    • fml says:

      11:32am | 30/05/11

      “Then of course, looking to the future - what if parents can choose the race of their children by genetic manipulation? Or higher intelligence, or good looks? Fun and games!”

      I cant wait! If you could change your child’s DNA to prevent them from having the likely hood of developing a disease later in life, i think it would be irresponsible not to, but we are long way from doing this just yet from a commercial perspective, its too inexact a science yet and the genome sequencing process is still too much guess work. While we can sequence DNA easily and cheaply the methods used to identify genes is still highly error prone.

    • Luce says:

      12:07pm | 30/05/11

      The idea of designer babies is a scary one, but rest assured the process the by which legal regulations are set up around these things is rigorous and slow. The chance of some of these things becoming legal any time soon is pretty slim.

      Erick, regarding the rate of paternity fraud: it must be taken into account that most of the people who access testing are doing so because they have suspicions of infidelity already, so the rates reported of paternity fraud are probably inflated compared to the actual rates for the entire population.

    • Erick says:

      01:45pm | 30/05/11

      Thank you for that thoughtful comment, Luce.

      Of course, legal regulations will be conservative - but consider the example of illegal drugs! Just because something is not legal, that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

      As for paternity fraud, I agree that current estimates may be inaccurate. Still, it remains to be seen what will be revealed when genetic scans are commonplace.

    • marley says:

      02:37pm | 30/05/11

      @Erick – there are two problems with your analogy. 

      First, so far as I’m aware, the genetic differences between men and women are actually greater than the genetic differences between men of different “races.”  The disparity between the Y chromosome and that pesky second X chromosome in women accounts for a genetic difference of as much as a couple of percent between the genders, whereas the difference between European and African men is less than 1%. 

      And your second problem is that you are allying genetics with behaviour.  We understand a bit about the link between genes and physical characteristics; a lot less about the link between genes and propensity to develop certain diseases; and very little at all about the link between genes and behaviour (except where that behaviour is influenced by physical characteristics like hormones).

      Your argument is therefore really backwards:  you believe there are significant differences between peoples from other parts of the world;  you believe that those differences relate to their race; therefore you believe those differences must be genetic;  therefore you think that gene testing will reveal those differences.  But if the differences between the behaviours of, say, Nigerians and Koreans are based not on race but on 50,000 years of environmental and cultural difference, then gene testing will reveal nothing whatsoever.

    • Luce says:

      02:38pm | 30/05/11

      Erick, that’s true, something being illegal doesn’t necessarily stop people from doing it, however selling drugs is slightly different from producing a designer baby, partly because of the cost to the patient, the complexity inherent in the process, the skill level required of the doctor, and the amount of regulation already around it. Having access to a lab to perform everything required, without someone picking up on it, would be pretty difficult compared to producing a drugs in someone’s garage. Plus doctors tend to (although not always) have higher moral values then someone involved in running drugs.. Well, I’m sure we’d all like to think so anyway.

      Regarding paternity fraud, yes.. it will be interesting indeed.

    • Kika says:

      03:26pm | 30/05/11

      People already subliminally chose their offspring’s looks by choosing which people to have sx with. Nothing new there Erick.

    • Luce says:

      04:32pm | 30/05/11

      Big difference between choosing a mate and genetically altering the embryo of your future child, Kika.

    • Mitchell says:

      06:56am | 30/05/11

      As with any new technology there is fear and apprehension over abuse, yet history shows common sense does prevail. There was a time when believing global nuclear war would destroy mankind was a mainstream opinion.
      The potential upside far outweighs the negatives: tailored gene therapy in medical treatment, parents avoiding genetically inherited diseases in their children, lifestyle changes made due to a genetic risk profile will increase lifespans and reduce cancer.
      Ethical questions like insurers and employers wanting a persons genome, designer babies (no more redheads?) and people shunning potential partners based on poor genetic makeup are just all part of the road of technological advancement.

    • KH says:

      08:59am | 30/05/11

      I’m sorry? Why would you single out ‘redheads’?  Red hair is a carry over from ancient celtic genes - what exactly is wrong with that?

    • Shenanigans says:

      09:00am | 30/05/11

      Technically cancer wouldnt be a problem at all if we started mucking around with genes and such tailored perfect children, they would be so genetically ‘perfect’ that things like cancer wouldnt be a problem. nooooo, anything but the redheads, because especially (and most importantly) in the lady folk they have the potential to be extremely good looking, don’t breed out the redheads, they are hard enough to find as it is.

    • trentyn says:

      09:28am | 30/05/11

      @mitchell
      Common Sense or Groupthink?

    • Daniel says:

      09:42am | 30/05/11

      @KH - He singled out redheads because its pretty much the last socialy acceptable “racial” sulr you can say in public. If he had said black skin for instance he’d be howled down by everyone as being a terrible racist or the post would never have made it past the moderators.

    • Jim says:

      11:23am | 30/05/11

      Going by some of Mitchells comments in todays installment of ClimateGate he’s a pompous latte sipping Green. They’re great at slurs of all types (just ask Israel and aborigines).

      FYI Mitchy boy…my wife to be is a redhead, and our beautiful little 4-week old girl is one too. Please feel free to discuss with me personally what exactly makes a redhead somehow less of a human being than you smile

    • Brett says:

      11:50am | 30/05/11

      Red heads are fine, just as long as they are female. No one goes after male red heads, but female red heads can be hands down the hottest thing on two legs.

      So if the red head gene is there, then they have to fix it so only females are born of the union…. wow isn’t this getting awkward smile

    • Jane2 says:

      12:16pm | 30/05/11

      We all have cancer at least once a day. Cancer is just the uneven splitting of genetic material. It develops into cancer when the persons body does not recognize it as foreign and doesnt attack and remove it to stop it from reproducing.

    • Sony B Goode says:

      12:47pm | 30/05/11

      Our redhead is a communist, a mental disease of intellectual myopia that needs to be bred out of our DNA

      It requires the ability to not see the bleeding obvious and a stern refusal to follow through the consequences of ones ideology backed by a circular self-righteousness that is unshakable, bordering on religious intensity. Underlying this tendency is a continual undercurrent of authoritarianism that rises to the surface when the inevitable failure of ones ideas meets with reality. Typically this manifests as paranoia that hidden forces are sabotaging the agenda rather than questioning the viability of one’s original theories. In the weaker cases and the odd occasion when success is met, self-loathing becomes dominant as the realisation one has become the evil that one sought to overthrow. In the more extreme cases violence and assassination are seen as the only solution to eradicate the perceived sabotaging entities.

    • Lisa H. says:

      01:57pm | 30/05/11

      Get real! Male red heads are gorgeous!! (Make cute kids too!)

    • Bev says:

      05:07pm | 30/05/11

      KH says:08:59am | 30/05/11

      I’m sorry? Why would you single out ‘redheads’?  Red hair is a carry over from ancient celtic genes - what exactly is wrong with that?
      Abosultley nothing. However the latest gene research attributes red hair to a gene transfered to humans from Neanderthals as there was some interbreeding. This gene besides bestowing red hair allowed the carrier of this gene to manufacture vitamin D with far less exposure to sunlight very useful during the Ice age which is why it survived in northern Germanic tribes..

    • KH says:

      09:17am | 30/05/11

      The biggest issue is who has access to this information, and how they might use it.  Even now there are concerns about the amount of personal information that companies have, and the fact that every day it is being hacked and misused.  Companies change management, and over time the initial philosophy might change to become more sinister.  Criminals could get access to the information, and use it to blackmail or manipulate people, or worse.

      There are pros obviously - for health care, it might be a good thing to know what illnesses or conditions are going to become most prevalent - you could direct reseach funding to that area and try to offset the problem, or doctors could choose specialities where there will be a lot of ‘business’, for example.  On the other hand, insurance might become prohibitively expensive or impossible to get for some people, or exclusions will be so specific it might not be worth paying for it - in which case the entire burden for treatment would be placed on the public. 

      Lets not even get started on where genetic engineering might go - sure, there are pros in weeding out illnesses and the like, but what about when vanity comes into it?  People creating ‘perfect’ babies that conform to whatever notion of beauty and success is prevalent.  The pressure will be on to do it, rather than take your chances.  Thats when discrimination will start - before you are even born.  Like almost any scientific discovery, there is plenty of good that can be done with it, but also plenty of terrifying things.

    • John says:

      10:33am | 30/05/11

      Personally i don’t believe in evolution. To a certain extent maybe yes.
      I’ve read some interesting stuff, but that would only class fie as a theory. Looking back the ancient Egyptians, in my eyes it seems to me they had some odd type heads. My view is that Egyptian royal family were not entirely Caucasian. There is also the view, that adam was a man created by the GOD’‘s mixing alien Y chromosome DNA with monkey DNA. This means that Y chromosome of the male is entirely alien. But when they created the female model, they used a female monkey and crossed it adam’s DNA, meaning that the female of today are more connected to earthly desires, where the male is more of alien desires. I heard someone stated that if you compare the Y chromosome of male humans, and that of animals, they find the genetic code very different. There is also a lot of talk of Junk DNA in the Y chromosome, this could be alien type patterns, that is not understood because it doesn’t connected with nature on this planet.  So to certain extent humans could of partial evolved, but the DNA seems to have been altered, upgraded, this could explain human instincts of animals, but out conscious, morality, love and creativity is alien. They always have said women are from mars and men from venus, this could be true. If you notice the mattering patterns between women and males. You will notice, women are more connected to natural selection(bigger, stronger, non-moral, not really beautiful), were men are more interested in a higher form of woman. Beautiful, moral women. I believe these differences that separate men and women. We not entirely natural beings. So what I’m saying we are models, that have been updated and altered. Also, that men are women are not really entirely family, women is more connected to the animal kingdom where the men is more out of this world, but he also has animal DNA so that he can survive on earth. So what I’m saying men are more descendants of aliens, women are more descendants of female monkeys. These Y chromosomes, could of been models. R1B, R1A could came from two alien begins, that created their own model of human, Halo-group I, Halo-group J. etc

    • Bolz says:

      11:20am | 30/05/11

      Ermmm…are you serious?

    • John says:

      11:21am | 30/05/11

      Interesting quotes

      “On the other hand, recent comparisons of the human and chimpanzee Y chromosomes show that the human Y chromosome has not lost any genes since the divergence of humans and chimpanzees between 6–7 million years ago,[13] providing direct evidence that the linear extrapolation model may be flawed.”

      “The human genome has more noncoding DNA than any other animal known to date and it is not clear why. At least half of the noncoding sequence is made up of recognizable repeated sequences, some of which were inserted by viruses in the past”

    • SydSteve says:

      11:25am | 30/05/11

      Your trolling right? I mean you couldn’t possibly be serious?
      Pretty much all male animals have Y chromosomes.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y_chromosome

      We have junk DNA because we have evolved. We still have the genes of our ancestors but they are “switched off’ and not being expressed.

      We have animal like behaviors because we are animals. Our ‘alien’ behaviors have evolutionary benefits because we evolved to be social creatures.

      I really hope I haven’t given you Troll points for replying to this post.

    • Jim says:

      11:26am | 30/05/11

      Pssstttt…I think your drugs are wearing off John.

    • KH says:

      11:36am | 30/05/11

      this has to be the most bizarre and ridiculous thing I have ever read.

    • Richard says:

      11:55am | 30/05/11

      ^^ awesome stuff! love it.

    • John says:

      12:19pm | 30/05/11

      I certainly don’t believe in full evolution, but only partial. We humans must be a hybrid of alien and primate blood. The female question has always eluded me, so I’ve come the theory that the DNA of woman and man is different in origin. I don’t think they entirely evolve together, only in a partial sense. What I’m stating if evolution is a natural process, then genetic engineering is a non-natural process. So trying explain human behavior entirely on evolution might give you the wrong answer. I know it sounds bizarre, but i have an open mind.

    • The Sandwich says:

      12:19pm | 30/05/11

      Wow! I’ve finally met someone who thinks like me!

      We should get together, and play guitar… sing songs, lots of clapping! Maybe splice some genes if the mood is right wink

      I’ll even show you my Y chromosome if I can go for a ride in your spaceship?!

    • Just Sayin' says:

      12:40pm | 30/05/11

      “My view is that Egyptian royal family were not entirely Caucasian”

      Holy sh*t, ancient Africa wasn’t full of white people?

    • marley says:

      01:02pm | 30/05/11

      I particularly enjoy the bit about the DNA of men and women being from different species, one of which had to have been alien.  Well, makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?  After all, it’s not as though any other plant or animal species has two genders.  So it’s got to be aliens, right?

    • Sickemrex says:

      01:35pm | 30/05/11

      Is that Christian Nationalist John or another John.  You need your own blog mang.

    • John says:

      02:56pm | 30/05/11

      Sickemrex says

      Yes, The Nationalist who is against the internationalists. I guess that would mean I’m conservative with a moral aspect to it.

    • Eye4anEye says:

      06:59pm | 30/05/11

      Hi John,

      When are you starting up a religion? I think you have the makings of next scientology like religion here and and I’d like in on the ground floor for some brainwashing and extravagent follower rip offs. Some advice chuck in some form of test you can perform to judge peoples alien origins - for a fee of course.

      Keep up the goodwork brother John and hopefully one day we can all play starcraft for real on Earth.

      Kindest regards Eye4anEye of nutbar city.

    • fml says:

      11:28am | 30/05/11

      Just wait till your health insurance company gets their grubby little hands on your genetic make up.

      “No sir we will not insure you against this, this and this, good luck to you, you poor b@st@rd.”

    • Peter says:

      02:48pm | 30/05/11

      Who knows maybe one day they can identify the defective gene that makes some people continue to vote socialist despite the disasterous Governments that this invariably results in. Maybe we could then tax them at higher rates to pay for the foolish ideas the Government they are responsible for introduces like the Carbon Tax smile

    • Jane2 says:

      12:23pm | 30/05/11

      I must admit I am curious as to what my genes would say is hidden within. I am from a very long lived family on both sides who are in good health and have their marbles until they die suddenly in their late 80’s of heart attacks.

      Would I find that we have a recessive gene that could open us to some wierd thing that shortens life?

      If the insurance agency got a hold of teh results, would we be penalised because we have the habit of dieing of heart attacks, despite the fact we very old when we do?

      And of course would the family legend of having Indian blood prove true?

      Interesting times.

    • John says:

      12:40pm | 30/05/11

      I’m not stating that the Y chromosomes is alien, I’m stating theorizing that Human Y chromosome is vastly different to the Y chromosome of primates, because it either has been engineered up or mixed with alien type DNA. Lets state that my theory is correct, that we a cross breed of alien type DNA(genetic engineering) and primates. It would be easy to look for the theory in evolution that we are primates, but the other odd stuff, we can just pass off as JUNK DNA or mutations. I’m not expert in this field. It’s just a theory.

    • Snake says:

      01:55pm | 30/05/11

      John says:

      12:40pm | 30/05/11

      “I’m not expert in this field.”

      Well it’s a good thing we cleared that up!

    • The Sandwich says:

      02:31pm | 30/05/11

      ” I’m not expert in this field. It’s just a theory. “

      It’s not even a theory. It’s a deluded pile of arse dust, that makes about as much sense as a singing hippopotamus on a ferris wheel.

      Did you go to school?

    • Kika says:

      03:20pm | 30/05/11

      test me! test me! I’d love to know my mitochondrial heritage.  How can we get tested?

    • Robyn B says:

      03:42pm | 30/05/11

      The biggest risk of DNA testing is an organisation being legally allowed to access your results ,so you have no control over your insurance, job prospects. future relationships ( Cyprus Style) etc. Privacy should be our biggest concern. Our vital data is being collected and stored too often, usually unwittingly.

    • azxylon says:

      06:52pm | 30/05/11

      Why fork out several hundred bux to find out the number is 42?
      Check this link out for a quick answer to all your eugenics questions.

      ITS ALL IN YOUR HEAD MATE!!

    • Eye4anEye says:

      07:05pm | 30/05/11

      Sounds like a good thing if we can eliminate disease and defects - I don’t really have a problem with designer babies for medical purposes (picking eye and hair colour etc is probably going to far). Would a world populated by fit, healty (mentally and physically) people really be a bad thing?

      I find it odd that people get so pissy about wanting to do something for humanity in regards to the environment etc. but that improving the entire human species invokes such condemnation.

    • Carl H. says:

      12:35pm | 12/06/11

      Given the history of government and the propensity of insurance companies to detail every piece of gleen-able information to determine insurability, and companies looking for ways to reduce healthcare costs, we should be concerned tremendously about this ability to genetically map diseases and traits.  As has been often said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  It may seem like a great idea to be able put only the best of us into our children, but how far of a step is to go from that to genetic discrimination (and even better, to be able to prove it).  Then again, what may happen with a growing race of people endowed with a superior intelligence? What would they soon come to think of their forebears?  Knowing our genetic history sounds pretty cool but the potential downside of being able to dig deeper into our genome and knowing what we traits we carry, what recessive deformities we harbor, what the likelihood of us dying of what and when,, opens a frightening can of worms.  If you read the WSJ, about 8-9 years ago, you would find a small out of the way article about the Union Pacific Railroad who was caught having company doctors perform genetic predisposition tests on workers who claimed carpal tunnel as an argument to fight these claims. The NLRB put an end to it but who is to say it will not and has not occurred?  Considering mankind’s history of utilizing new technology, I would hope that we proceed very very slowly in utilizing this technology.

    • Cheapest paris hilton sex tape says:

      11:15am | 21/09/11

      Best, <a >paris hilton sex tape</a> paris hilton sex tape,  tepr,

    • Cheapest buy tramadol says:

      06:44am | 26/09/11

      best for you, <a >buy tramadol</a> buy tramadol,  skloco,

    • Cheapest one year anniversary gift for boyfriend says:

      08:38am | 04/10/11

      really great sites, thank you, <a >Cheapest one year anniversary gift for boyfriend</a>, http://www.about.me/oneyearanniversaryge ]Cheapest one year anniversary gift for boyfriend[/url],  881,

    • buy adipex says:

      11:29pm | 26/10/11

      Excellent site. It was pleasant to me., <a >All about buy adipex</a> All about buy adipex,  >:))),

    • First replica rolex watches says:

      01:32am | 27/10/11

      I bookmarked this guestbook., <a >replica rolex watches</a>, http://rrw.eventbrite.com/ ]replica rolex watches[/url],  bdiswg,

    • Hotneock says:

      10:06am | 31/01/12

      check this link, <a >chanel usa</a>  to get new coupon

    • buy tramadol for you says:

      07:39am | 10/04/12

      I want to say thanks!, <a >buy tramadol</a> buy tramadol,  61095,

 

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

David Penberthy

@KevCorduroy @SallyHitchiner it's a great idea I doubt he'd go for it though far too laid back

ToryShepherd

. @mcguiremi is journo of the year! #samediaawards

ToryShepherd

.@mariamosco @msmarto Super Smarto. And Shirley Stott Despoja into the Hall of Fame #samediaawards

ToryShepherd

Best print journo to @mcguiremi woot! #samediaawards

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

The Punch is moving house

The Punch is moving house

Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go

Tim says:

They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]

From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go

Kel says:

If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]

Gentle jabs to the ribs

Superman needs saving

Superman needs saving

Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more

28 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free News.com.au newsletter