Gene Testing and Insurance.

Tim Worstall: Gene Testing and Insurance. A really depressing event today was to read in the Times that insurance companies (in the UK certainly) have applied to ask whether applicants have been tested for BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 gene defects. These genes are implicated in 5 per cent of breast and ovarian cancers, but if you test positive, you may never develop the disease. There are many reasons why I find this depressing. But one of them is that those most sane and reasonable of people, bloggers, seem to think it is OK. Tim Worstall, who edited the excellent book "2005 Blogged", certainly seems to think so on his blog posting (linked to above). Read the comments, at least everyone does not agree with him. But it seems to me to be the thin end of a wedge. A sad day. [science] [weblog] [newspapers]