Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by pvaldes 2353 days ago
Saying that you do not own your unique genetic code is not much different than saying that your ears, eyes or kidneys are not yours, and might be helpful form others, so anybody could take them. Think about it.
4 comments

There is a huge difference between physical objects and information.
Is not so easy. A DNA chain is a physical object and information at the same time. If you copy it, you are copying an object that could be used to "make a copy of you", and allowing "random company or people" to pick this info opens the door to several problems. i.e. Imagine that somebody stole your sperm somehow and use it to make a child and blackmail you asking for money each month for 18 years because you are "the father", so pay me. Boris Becker suffered a similar case.

In the same way synthetic fragments of your DNA could be left in a crime scenery. It would be enough to clone only the handful of good parts able to trigger a rape test, and we have machines that could be feed with your public data and programmed to do this. No need to say that this could put you in a jail for the rest of your life, or worse.

You need to protect yourself from a lot of posible evil uses of your unique code, past and future.

No one is using the physical objects for their research. They sequenced it (at your request) and are only using the information for research...
This information can be easily used to regenerate partially the physical object.
Are you saying you wouldn't download a car?
Easily? Any proof that it had been done?
Given that I literally gave half my genetic code to my daughter and she does not actually have any portion of my literal ears, kidneys, or eyes, I think you're overdramatizing.
That's a bit of a strawman. I guess people shouldn't donate blood with your line of thinking. It's apparently the same as donating an organ that doesn't replenish itself.
Is a different situation.

The blood that you donate is not taken for making a profit by a private company. Is strongly regulated and do not depends of the income of external investors expecting a profit. At difference of a private company, nobody will buy the goverment tomorrow.

Wrong, profit is made. It can go to for profit hospitals who charge for it, or at least the service if administrating it.
I like that. Yes profit is made and I see none of that profit but I don't care because the blood still ends up in another human who needs it.
It is very different. Ears, eyes and kidneys are unique physical manifestations of the code.

The code is just information.