that we can now sequence the individual at comparatively low cost, is all of amazing and frightening at once. We can find the gay genes, I am not kidding. I have good friends of which for their who life I thought, dammit, you are a girl. One has done gender reassignment. He/she has never been happier, for those of s close to him it has been kinda cool, I don't have to pretend he is a boy any more. He never was.
But what does directed sequencing of individuals bring to the landscape ... is this the precipice of predefining serial killers etc. The powers are great, the pitfalls perhaps even huger.
The human genetics community is flat on its back. We always said some things were genetic, a lot were environment. We looked at the parents genes and the phenotype of the offspring and catagorized ...genetic/not genetic.
We were wrong.
The plasticity of sperm and ova clearly indicated that we cannot assume genetic circumstance from parents.
This is a massive earth shattering reality. Sure any decent biologist would have assigned the normal 10xe-9
background mutation rate (at a single nuc, the vast majority of that small number silent) and we have learned this is patently RUBBISH. Massive variation occurs in the gamete production process, it dwarfs the simple point mutation stuff. We, quite simply, explode variation when we make sperm and eggs.
I do not think I can ever over emphasize what this means. Are we only a consequence of genes? Is there post-genetic conscience, or are we really just the outcome of these molecules. Is ... "he's nothing like his father" very easily defined and a molecular genetic level.
Does this not temper for example the plain observation that awk is an asshole into more of a ... hey, some decency genes spliced out?
can we judge or praise or anything in the face of this massive wall of individual-specific genomics?
Staggering.
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