Dr. Francis Collins on The Threat of Genetic Discrimination
On March 14, 2007, Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, testified before the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means. Here’s an excerpt of his testimony entitled, The Threat of Genetic Discrimination to the Promise of Personalized Medicine (pdf):
As you can see, the science of genomic medicine is rocketing forward. But fear of genetic discrimination threatens to slow both the advance of such groundbreaking biomedical research and the integration of the fruits of that research into our nation’s health care. If individuals continue to worry that they will be denied health insurance or refused employment because they have a predisposition to a particular disease, they may forego genetic testing that could help guide medical professionals to lessen their risk, simply because the test identifies them as having such a predisposition. This is about all of us, as there are no perfect specimens at the DNA level; each one of us carries numerous gene variants that increase our risk of developing one disease or another. Therefore, each one of us is at risk for genetic discrimination.
Tags: genetic discrimination, francis collins, nhgri, human genome, genome, genetics, genes, dna, diseases, illness, health, health care, healthcare, health insurance, medicine
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Genetics Quotes
.gif)
8 opinions for Dr. Francis Collins on The Threat of Genetic Discrimination
Charles T. Munson
Apr 4, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Dear Dr. Colins - Your contributions are remarkable and for that I hold you in the deepest regard. At the same time, you must be the most intellectually dishonest person on the planet, because your level of intelligence precludes the possibility that the trust you place in superstitution and magic could be genuine. I just saw you on television saying that no one knows what created the universe or precisely how it was created, therefore God must be the answer. Factually true enough, but then to conclude that the explanation must be some type of magic which you label as “God” is to deny the very discipline - science - to which you have dedicated most of your life. Isn’t there a possibility that some future scientist, building on the knowledge we have accumulated in the last 400 years, will penetrate the veil of ignorance that shrouds our vision, or have we reached the end of our ability to acquire new knowledge? Is he fated to find that only magic could have formed the universe(s), or is there a possibility that there could be an answer not based on superstition? Doesn’t science teach that ignorance is a temporary quandary that, given perserverance and determination, will eventually be resolved - in every realm of life? Galileo was persecuted for suggesting that we inhabit a heliocentric universe. Should we now stop investigating because you’ve given us the only answer - magic - that we can ever hope to find? For shame, Doctor. Closing our minds in such perilous times does not seem, to me, to promote survival of our species. Asking some phantasmagoric apparition to solve our self-induced problems for us seems even less wise.
Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD
Apr 4, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Charles: Thanks for your thoughtful answer. I hope Dr. Collins comes by Genetics and Health to read it!
Sean
Apr 4, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Once again, the atheist attack comes out in force. The undying belief that you must be the greatest force in the universe so there can be no greater. To be sure, ignoring science and preaching such nonsense about the earth being 6000 years old and other such insanity is an insult to science, but I view it as just as much of an insult to God. To begin to claim that we can give simple answers to all of creation is just ignorant. The pathetic scientifically broken ‘explanations’ that the ‘true believers’ spit out with their pseudo science is like saying God could only have used crayons to draw the universe and is incapable of doing anything in a fashion more complex than we can explain away with simple children’s stories. I applaud Dr. Collins for his ability to understand that things like the human genome, math, and the very physics that cause existence to be existence could be the work of a creator and our job is to explore it as deeply as possible to appreciate it and not just chalk it up to some silly magic creation theory as you say. I hope he continues to make great strides in this work for a better future. The best painters don’t paint to become famous, they paint so that the viewer can appreciate the work, every minute detail. Incidentally for the atheists reading, do yourself a favor and pick up some religious texts and read them. Don’t just rant about things you have no exposure to. Don’t get your information from people carrying signs chanting “God hates gays” or other nonsense. You will see that ultimately the whole of religion is more or less a set of rules that boil down to quit treating each other like crap and get along. The fundamentalists and the ignorant taint that.
genetics technology » Blog Archive » Fat and genetics
May 18, 2007 at 11:24 pm
[…] But fear of genetic discrimination threatens to slow both the advance of such groundbreaking biomedical research and the integration of the fruits of that research into our nation s health care. If individuals continue to worry that … …more […]
Felicio Deleprani
Jan 18, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Do you know the Frank Lewis Marsh’ s Books?
Alvin E. Turner
Jan 31, 2008 at 2:12 am
Dear Dr. Collins,
I read the article that was printed in the Los Angeles Times, by Stephanie Simon. I sympothize with you, because I know the pressure you are under. I totally agree with the fact that God and science are one. I have proof that the story of Genesis, is not the story of the original creation, of the Earth. However, it is the story of the “re-making” of the Earth. I am going to send you some inserts of the book, that I am writing. Please read, and respond back to me. Perhaps, together we can bring the true knowledge of our universe, and life on Earth back to it’s true rightfullness. Enclosing, my other e-mail address is…mralvinturner@hotmail.com
After reading this article it became real to me how important it is, that the whole truth be made known to us. The question, the dying women asked,” What do you believe? Do we die and go to a better place? IF the earth was formed by some mysterious big bang and man simply evolved on the earth, there would be no judgment for sin as the church teaches, and no need for a heaven or a hell. On the other hand if God created the universe and created man then there is a need for a heaven and a hell. It would mean the universe and man have a true purpose. The church is correct to teach that God is the creator of earth and man. But is wrong to teach that Genesis is the story of it. Science is correct to teach that the earth is much older then the story of Adam and Eve, in the bible. But is wrong to teach evolution as the way life came to be on the earth. This is where the problem lays. We cannot continue to teach our children that God created the earth and man in church and turn around in the school’s and teach them the world was form by some big bang and life evolved on the earth. This is stupid. We must be one or the other, we cannot be both. Just as we could not be half slave and half free. The questions are many and the truth is vital to our existence and that of our children. From a vision of three balls, the truth was made known to me. A truth so real and clear, it became alive.
I now know was from God. The hidden, secret, mysteries of his word were revealed. The real truth of God’s creation made known to us. And it all began with a vision of three balls. Three balls just floating in the air of my mind. The first ball was all black, the second ball was half-black and half-white, and the third and final ball was all white. At first, I had no idea what the vision meant. Only after content prayer was the knowledge of the vision revealed. To find the meaning, I was led to the bible.
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitant there of are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. Isa 40:22
The roundness or circle of the balls, were of the earth, and the blackness and whiteness of the balls is the power of darkness and light upon the earth. The first ball all black is the earth in total darkness and the second ball half-black and half-white is the earth in half-darkness and in half-light, the third and final ball, all white is the earth in total light. This friend is the earth in three different stages of being, the beginning, the middle, and the end.
And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.Gen1:2
This is the ending of the first earth [the all black heaven], it was without form because it was no good, and it was no good, because the earth was made void, by the power of darkness that was upon the face of the deep.
And God said, let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.Gen1:3-4
This is the beginning of the second earth [the half-black and half-white heaven], the power of darkness is neutralized by the power of light.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it and the lamb is the light thereof. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there’re. Rev 21:1, 23, 25
This is the third and final ball [the all white heaven], the earth of total light.
This is the three stages of existence, our earth will endure, the first earth: darkness was upon the face of the deep [the prehistoric earth, the all black ball].The second earth: and God divided the light from the darkness [the earth of today, the half-black and half-white ball].The third earth: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamb is the light thereof [the earth of the future, the all white ball]. This vision of three balls was the beginning of truth for me. And the blackness and whiteness of them, shows the spiritual control over the earth, the blackness or darkness on the earth is the power of evilness and the whiteness or light on the earth is the power of righteousness. The first earth was in total darkness, this showed me that our universe was once under the total power of spiritual evilness. Darkness was upon the face of the deep, in other words, darkness and its power of evilness was everywhere not just on the earth alone, but on all the planets and there moons as well. The earth was not the only planet to be made void by the power of darkness that was controlling our universe. All you have to do is look at our galaxy, and understand that out of 9 planets and over 64 moons, there is only life as we know of it, on the earth only. If it was not for the life we have on the earth, our galaxy would be a waste land of useless planets and moons. How do you believe it got that way?
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.Gen1:1
We have been taught that this is the beginning of God’s creation of the earth. But what about the other planets and their moons? What is the beginning of their creation? The same God that made the earth also made the other planets and moons as well, right? Yet, they are not mentioned in the creation of the earth in Genesis. Why? Surely the writer of Genesis could clearly see the moon, and realize that the earth was not the only planet created by God. Yet, the earth is the only one [planet] mentioned in the bible, why? The earth is the only one mentioned because it is the only planet that God remade over after the destruction of his planets by the power of darkness which was upon the face of the deep. Billion of years passed before God spoke the words…let there be light, and there was light. Until then the world was in darkness. Notice, God didn’t say let there be darkness and light, because darkness was already here. And understanding this darkness as well as the light is the key to understanding the story of God’s creation, and his true purpose for it. The first earth was in total darkness, and its spiritual power of evilness was upon it. The second earth is God remaking the earth and bringing light which was good, into a world of darkness which was bad. And he made a temporary light in the sky in the form of the sun to shine on the earth and separated the darkness from the light, evil from good. Thus darkness and light could both rule upon the earth but not the other planets, which, till remain in their chaotic state of being made void, uninhabitable by the spirit which is of darkness. This is the earth, today, in which you and I co-exist. The third and final earth is the earth to come, an earth of total light. Ruled by God and Jesus, also they will be the light of the world, not just the earth but all the planets that were made void will now also be restored to their fullness. Made suitable for life, their true purpose in the first place. Amen. So the vision I had was a vision of our earth in three different but separate state of existence, this must be seen clearly by science and the church.
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts. And saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. Where by the world that then was, being overflowed with water perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should parish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements, shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Never-the-less we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 2 Peter 3:3-13
Three different, earths, the earth that was, and the earth that is now, and the earth to come, simply put, the past, present, and the future of our world. By the time the story of Genesis was written, the heavens were old and the earth being out of the water and in the water was being baptized by God. Made over and baptize in the name of God’s righteousness. This was the world that was. That was overflowed by water and perished because it was made void by the power of darkness that was upon the face of the deep. Genesis is the story of the earth remade over; darkness is no longer the only power in the lower heaven of our world, light has come to oppose the darkness. The light of the sun and of the moon, and stars in the lower heaven of darkness were not in the heaven in the beginning. The greater light, of the sun would rule the day, and the lesser light of the moon and the stars to rule their places in the heaven of darkness at night. Darkness is not done away with, and the light of the sun, moon, and stars is only temporary until the kingdom of God comes and the world is lighten by the glory of God’s light and that of his son. This is where the story of Genesis picks up at, in the middle. The world of Adam and Eve, the world in which you and I live. We must understand that as the first earth came to an end, and was baptized by water, so is the fate of our world, also to come to an end and be baptized by fire. The last and final earth, the earth where darkness is finally done away with, there is no more night. Darkness and evilness are no more, replaced by light and righteousness. So there you have it, the vision I saw, and what I’ve learned from it. This is the true course of our earth and it must be made known and taught in the church and accepted by science and taught in our schools.
Alvin E. Turner
Jan 31, 2008 at 2:56 am
I have very important information for Dr. Collins concerning your belief in God, and in science. They can both work together. I have biblical proof that Genesis is not the story of creation. The bible speaks of a world before this one. Please contact.
Sincerely,
AlvinTurner
Paulo Roque
Jun 10, 2008 at 4:27 am
Dear Dr. Collins
In the appendix of your book: “The language of God: a scientist evidence for bilief” you have mentioned that only in the United States there are hundreds of milions of embryos in freezers and that this number is increasing.
A doctor here in Brasil referred to James Sherley from MIT stating that this number is only 18000 embryos.
Would you explain to me in what basis this difference of numbers appear?
I will appreciate your answer.
My best regards,
Paulo Roque
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: