Author Archives: Chris MacDonald

From CTV News: Some Canadians suffering ‘genetic discrimination’ With medical advances, Canadians can now learn whether they carry the genetic risk for devastating diseases. But that knowledge could come at a price, suggests a study that looked at the growth … Continue reading →

What happens when 2 of the world’s hottest technologies — social networking and personal genomics — come together? Dig this press release, via Marketwire: PatientsLikeMe Teams Up With 23andMe to Help Parkinson’s Patients Health 2.0 Pioneers Work Together to Accelerate … Continue reading →

From Foreign Policy: The Next Big Thing: A New You, by Juan Enriquez. As countries and industries grow increasingly overwhelmed by wave after wave of bankruptcies, layoffs, restructurings, botched contracts, and embarrassing bonuses, they might lose sight of a second, … Continue reading →

Not all biotech ethics stories are about biotech. From the Denver Post: Biotech ad draws fire from Colorado lawmaker A newspaper advertisement that commends Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter for pushing biotech industries rankled a Republican lawmaker who says he thinks … Continue reading →

From BusinessWire: Risks of Sharing Personal Genetic Information Online Need More Study, Stanford Bioethicists Say With just $399 and a bit of saliva in a cup, consumers can learn about their genetic risk for diseases from breast cancer to diabetes. … Continue reading →

Ronald Bailey, writing for Reason Online: You Can’t Handle the Truth: Do genetic tests need more federal regulation? Worth reading in its entirety, but here are some key bits: But does such direct-to-consumer (DTC) genotyping need to be regulated—or banned? … Continue reading →

From Genomeweb Daily News: European Genetics Group Offers Draft of Genetic Testing Oversight The European Society of Human Genetics has issued a draft version of proposed recommendations for regulating and managing genetic testing and will be accepting public comments about … Continue reading →

From Grainews: Ag groups push back against biotech wheat A bid by a number of Canadian, U.S. and Australian growers’ groups to help clear the regulatory road for gene-altered wheats has run up against equally opposed groups from the same … Continue reading →

Is biotech the best thing, or the worst thing, that’s ever happened to the environment? Check out this article from the Times, which points to biotech as a source of environmentally-friendly products: Industrial biotechnology sales soar The demand for plant-based … Continue reading →

From Oliver Moore, writing for the Globe & Mail: Meet – and eat – the modified Atlantic salmon It looks like a normal Atlantic salmon, and the fish’s creators say it tastes like one, too. But this is no ordinary … Continue reading →