Genetic Trophy Hunters May Face Jail
The Sunday Age
Sunday November 9, 2008
DNA theft could soon be a crime that attracts a two-year jail term amid concern that information gathered through genetic testing on tiny body samples is being misused.
Federal Police Minister Bob Debus has warned that the rapid development of human genetic technology allowing testing on hair, saliva and cheek cells "have made tighter laws necessary"."Non-consensual genetic testing may involve physical harm, where a bodily sample is taken by force, or emotional harm, where the paternity or identity of the individual is questioned, or genetic predisposition to illness is identified without that person's consent," Mr Debus said.A discussion paper prepared for federal, state and territory attorneys-general found that increasingly sophisticated technology allowed genetic information to be obtained from minute samples left on a glass, cigarette, toothbrush, comb, an item of clothing or on a tissue.It warned of an "increasingly common fear" about "genetic trophy hunters" - people attempting to get samples to access genetic information on celebrities and public figures.The report, by senior legal bureaucrats, said there was also concern that genetic information could be misused by employers, insurers and others for discriminatory purposes.
© 2008 The Sunday Age