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Should every baby's DNA be sequenced?

economist.com

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Re: Should every baby's DNA be sequenced?

#61

Post by inglor_cz »

dbg31415 wrote: post #50

> Alpha children wear grey They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm really awfuly glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. B…

"And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. "

Isn't this actually happening to us right now, but not via genetics/eugenics, rather by being glued to screens and consuming brainrot?

We're always vigilant against hypothetical problems while pooh-pooing the ones that are unfolding right in front of our eyes.

Re: Should every baby's DNA be sequenced?

#63

Post by Balgair »

N_Lens wrote: post #6

I believe this drive to record all the data and control everything (through science or surveillance) is misguided (And perhaps a bit paranoid) and will lead to poor outcomes for everyone.

Especially in something as squishy as biology. A field famous for withholding any kind of certainty.

Sure, DNA seems like something that is 'real' and 'grounded', but once you get into the specifics of even sample collection and handling, those little errors in the Gaussian distributions start adding up (in quadrature!) and it is surprising how fast the error bars end up swamping any kind of knowledge.

Re: Should every baby's DNA be sequenced?

#64

Post by laszlokorte »

nedruod wrote: post #52
laszlokorte wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I would like my child to not be deaf" -> "Many (most?) people would prefer their child to not be deaf" -> (3) "Deaf community shrinks" -> "Social support for deaf people is reduced/seen as not necessary" -> "Parents of deaf children are blamed for carrying out the child" -> "Parents are nudged (forced) to terminate the pregnancy" -> goto (3) In a some way this is already happening (eg Judges forcing cochlea implants…

In terms of slippery slopes, this argument is climbing atop one. Where does that end? Should we ban doctors from performing surgeries that would save someone's hearing? Should we ban protective gear that might diminish the size of the deaf community? It's simply a horrible argument to suggest that you have to protect a disadvantaged community by making sure they don't shrink. There's much better ways to be respectful…

I said nothing about banning performing surgeries or forcing parents to carry out a deaf child just for keeping some community alive.

I just wanted to point out that there is a path from "would like to prevent" to "stop everybody who does not match the profile from living".

The other responses in this thread already show in which bad light people look at deaf people. Maybe start talking to some of them.

Re: Should every baby's DNA be sequenced?

#65

Post by Balgair »

boxed wrote: post #48

The negative comments against genetic screening here seems to be 100% from people who either have no serious genetic diseases lurking in their family tree or are lying to themselves and pretending they don't.

I have close friends that has quite serious genetic diseases in the family, ones they passed on to their children too. In that, they are in and out of the hospital all the time. And yes, the disease is degenerative.

I know that they went out of their way to a company that does not store genetic info for their sequencing.

In talking with them, they are also very against any form of this screening. The risks of the disease are very bad, but they feel on a population level that the risks of abuse by insurances or governments are much higher, per what they have told me.

Re: Should every baby's DNA be sequenced?

#66

Post by laszlokorte »

arghwhat wrote: post #60
boxed wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deafness is a huge handicap, in many ways significantly worse than blindness. That the victims of this horrible ailment start to self identify with it isn't a reason to subject new humans to it.

I have previously had to install simple things like doorbells for deaf people, which is done through a very strobe light that can be seen from almost the entire apartment... if you're not behind a closed door at least. The idea of it being genuinely difficult for a person to be warned or notified is terrifying. Put your phone in your bag and you might as well have left it at home. Honking, people yelling or screaming…

Then maybe install the strobe lights in all important rooms? Most people have there phone on silent/vibration anyway and recently everybody uses noise-canceling headphones outside to not be bothered by other people...

All the infrastructure that would support deaf people (like additional signal lights, vibration signals, subtitles...) are also very helpful for everybody else in specific situations.

Everybody is handicapped part of the time

Re: Should every baby's DNA be sequenced?

#67

Post by rootsudo »

dbg31415 wrote: post #50

> Alpha children wear grey They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm really awfuly glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. B…

I also liked seeing Huxley here too. It’s great what seems to be have lost that’s shy of 100 years being published.

Re: Should every baby's DNA be sequenced?

#69

Post by dbg31415 »

rootsudo wrote: post #67
dbg31415 wrote: post #50

> Alpha children wear grey They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm really awfuly glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. B…

I also liked seeing Huxley here too. It’s great what seems to be have lost that’s shy of 100 years being published.

> A gramme is better than a damn.

Re: Should every baby's DNA be sequenced?

#70

Post by OptionOfT »

I think this is very dangerous.

And yet, in hindsight, I would've wanted it for me, my sister, and my wife.

My sister and I have a certain type of EDS. My wife has another kind.

Born today, based on the current science, tests would reveal this. It wouldn't change the progression of the disease, but it would have dramatically changed the journey.

At the very least it would've avoided the self-doubt, and it would've provided defense against doctors when they said 'oh you're just tired' (we all have the EDS symptom that sometimes our batteries are VERY low).

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