The infiltration and abduction of large corporate computer-based data systems will appear to be the least of our problems now that new and innovative technologies allow even the everyday man to ‘hack’ into another being’s genome- which we undoubtedly have been raised to believe is unique and untouchable by others.
Without us even realising it, intimate secrets coded in our DNA can be ‘stolen’. A small sample taken from a used water glass is enough to obtain a comprehensive scan of our genome, “revealing DNA variants that determine our susceptibility to a wide range of diseases, from a common form of blindness to Alzheimer’s disease” says Aldhous and Reiley from NewScientist Journals.
Without us even realising it, intimate secrets coded in our DNA can be ‘stolen’. A small sample taken from a used water glass is enough to obtain a comprehensive scan of our genome, “revealing DNA variants that determine our susceptibility to a wide range of diseases, from a common form of blindness to Alzheimer’s disease” says Aldhous and Reiley from NewScientist Journals.
The two conducted an investigation which proceeded in disturbing findings. “Michael Reiley “hacked’ the genome of Peter Aldhous armed with only a credit card, a private email account and a home address” (Aldhous, P. & Reilly, M., NewScientist)- all utilities which are readily available for anyone. No; genome hacking does not require specialist skills or personal access to sophisticated equipment. In fact in recent years, many companies have begun to offer personal genome scans to not only genetic scientists but to the general public- companies including 23andME, Navigenics and deCODEme. Indeed, these services are extremely vulnerable to abuse by ‘genome hackers’ submitting other people’s DNA for covert analysis.
“Companies that perform genome scans use DNA "chips" that test for the presence of hundreds of thousands of DNA variants known as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs - some of which have been associated with susceptibility to various diseases” (Aldhous, P. & Reilly, M., NewScientist). Moreover, it is frighteningly easy for anyone to interpret this information as computer programs such as Promethease can be downloaded from an easily accessible site SNPedia.com
The study carried out by Reiley and Aldhous showed some inconsistencies. For example, when using two different scanning databases, both concluded that the subject was more likely than a typical person to develop Alzheimer’s disease but they disagreed on the size of the risk. So now, it is questionable how accurate these scans actually are. In part, these confusing results reflect current limits to geneticists' knowledge of how individual variations in DNA sequences influence health. But scientific technologies will only continue in advanced at a rapid pace, so there is no room for complacency about the ease with which a genome can be hacked.
Furthermore cost was not a huge obstacle. It was estimated that the experiment costed only $2000. Indeed, Genomic analysis will only going become cheaper, and more powerful. "The plummeting costs of genome profiling and sequencing make it all too tempting to snoop around in other people's genomes," says Katherine Hudson (leading scientist in Genetics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC).Without a doubt, if legislators fail to increase precautions taken to limit genome hackers we all have reason to fear the security of our DNA.
Student ID: s42026354
