The steep growth of the New Orleans firm Renaissance RX, which does DNA testing to help doctors fit prescriptions to individual patients, relies on data showing how people with certain genes process different medications. Health care watchers say that kind of technology will inspire a revolution in medicine.
But the power to collect such detailed information on individuals' biological makeup also comes with privacy ramifications.
People have to share their genetic information for the databases to be most helpful in guiding treatment decisions for others. An article in The Dallas Morning News recently quoted Francis Collins, who led the Human Genome Project and directs the National Institutes of Health, saying privacy is "something we think deeply about and have a host of potential solutions."
"Your DNA sequence is really private information and it shouldn't be given out to other third parties without your permission," he said. "I think basically our position is, if the DNA sequence is going to be used for research, you should be asked about whether that's OK and it would be nice if that was given to you in some sort of tiered opportunity to say yes."
Other concerns center on employers or health insurance providers discriminating against people based on their genes, which is illegal under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008.
What are your thoughts? What privacy protections should surround DNA data? Do the powerful potential benefits of the technology outweigh privacy concerns, or not?
Share your thoughts in the questions and comments below.