Dna

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).

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. 

Continue reading "Welcome to Gattaca: What’s in your genes?" »

So many words are spilt today arguing about the non-existence of an almighty that it’s easy to forget that atheism isn’t the end goal. Far from it.

Atheism is just the beginning. It’s the question of what comes after God where things become really interesting.

Because atheism is ultimately only a negative thesis: it simply states that there exists no god or gods. As such, to say I’m an atheist tells you something about what I don’t believe in, but it tells you almost nothing about what I do believe in.

Continue reading "Is there a life after God?" »

There’ll be no more excuses for under-performing children now their parents can get them tested for sporting prowess.

A US company is selling DNA home testing kits – just swab the little darling and post it off, and they’ll let you know whether you’re nurturing the next Usain Bolt.

Just what competitive parents need in the race to have the best child in the world. Now they can hang around the school gate boasting that not only did little precious learn to align a Rubik’s Cube at two months, he also has the genes of a champion.

Continue reading "Competitive parenting’s latest weapon" »

It is encouraging to see that a spirit of bipartisanship is being brought to the issue of patenting human genes.

However, it will take more than a recent House of Representatives motion calling for an end to the patenting of isolated human DNA to achieve change.

Despite the US Federal Court finding patents for the BRCA1 and 2 genes invalid, the weight of precedent is against the finding being upheld.

Continue reading "Reserving the right to protect our genetic code" »