Science Marches On

It's a good week for Mankind; I just hope that company-kind doesn't ruin it for us. The completion of a major phase of the HapMap project marks the identification of variations in the 0.1% of the genome that differs between individuals in our species. While 0.1% sounds like a small number, it actually acounts for about 10 million pieces of genetic information. This information will greatly accelorate the study of causes of -, suseptability to- and effectiveness of treatment for diseases. I anticipate some people to be concerned over the implications this will have in nightmare scenarios (any science fiction plot about a dystopia where science has run amock; e.g. designor babies as in Gataca). Already a clinical trial is underway at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas to determine the social effect of gender selection by couples undergoing assisted reproduction. However, the real concern for me is that the human genome hasn't been treated as entirely open scource. You can have a look at any sequence you like via Genbank, but genes are actually patented by companies allowing only them to conduct research into the prevention or treatment of diseases linked to that gene. I fear that ultimately, companies will price gouge people on the basis of their heredity and that because all people have potential to be gouged equally, the government will turn a blind eye to it.
Furthermore, the scientific comunity has issued some very straight forward suggestions for how to bring the United States back to the forefront of scientific research (which is a major source of economic growth) that I fear will be likely ignored for at least another 3 years, until an new (hopefully more academically friendly) administration takes power.