Editorial: It’s all in the genes

Saturday, April 7, 2007 | 7:20 a.m.

Researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse say they have identified 221 genetic functions that appear to distinguish people who fail to quit smoking from people who successfully quit.

In a recent Bloomberg News story, scientists say that in pinpointing the genetic codes that appear to reveal how smoking addictions work, they also discovered 62 more genes with functions that give clues as to how other types of addictions work.

George Uhl, the study's leading researcher, told Bloomberg News that the discovery could in the near future help determine which types of treatment regimens are most likely to work in certain people for certain types of addictions.

It is part of a shift toward what medical industry officials are calling "personalized medicine," in which people's genetic makeup is probed to find what prevention methods or treatments best suit them. Tests for breast or colon cancer may be done earlier in patients with a genetic predisposition , for example. Or physicians may be able to tell to which drugs a patient will best respond.

However, this new knowledge comes with the fear that, without proper controls, genetic information could be used to deny people jobs or health insurance. A 2002 study by the Johns Hopkins University Genetics and Public Policy Center shows that 85 percent of Americans believe that employers should not have access to genetic information.

It is exciting to think that one day we may not have to use the "try-it-and-see" approach to medical treatment. It also is scary to think that someone could fail to be hired, or be denied, or charged far more for, health insurance because he or she carries a genetic predisposition to an illness or addiction that might never occur.

Medical professionals already are talking about ethical guidelines to bar such information from being available to employers or health insurers. But usable genetic information already has been uncovered. It is time for Congress to step into these discussions and at least study the ethics and policies that could be involved. Otherwise, people could one day find that their futures are determined before they leave the cradle or have the chance to make choices for themselves.