Marie-Claire Shanahan has written on A Blog Around the Clock an essay discussing the Berkeley genetic test:
I chatted informally with some friends about the issue. One expressed her divided feelings about it saying (roughly quoted) "It seems like they [university admin] have addressed the ethical concerns well by being clear about the use of the swabs and the confidentiality but something still just doesn't feel right. There's still a part of me that shivers just a little bit."
What is the shiver factor?
Her thoughts provide another perspective, and I hope more will come.
I think that the test does two things. It requires that students give a different kind of trust to the university -- for information that's not covered by the usual federal protections of student records, and that requires a new "consent statement". To enforce this new trust, the test imposes a pressure from peers and faculty upon students.
I don't see how that trust has been earned. Especially by the University of California system -- remember MoCell?
