I have always found science interesting and something I could pursue with a passion. So, when I saw the headlines on CNN - "DNA testing uncovers suspect sushi" - you can imagine just how curious I was about it. Firstly, because DNA testing was fun. Secondly, because I love sushi.
Anyway, my concern with this article was not in the main point - which was what fish was used for sushi - but rather on these paragraphs:
He said the process [PCR/DNA sequencing] could become as common as GPS.
"Many people are working on miniaturizing it, bring the cost down and the speed to process up," he said.
"Sequencing is a chemical process. There is no reason why we can't check the food on our plate [and] send the signal out to a database electronically. GPS used to be as big as refrigerators and only used by the government. Now it's a common application in a phone."
The students worked under Jesse H. Asusubel of Rockefeller University, a champion of DNA bar coding.
They say the project wasn't work. "It didn't feel like a chore. It wasn't time-consuming at all," Stoeckle said. "I'm hoping to get more public interest so it can become cheaper and more common."
Okay... so they want to check the food on their plate and send the signal out to a database electronically... whatever for? While finding out what I eat may be nice but honestly, would I really want to know everything that goes into my mouth?
I might end up not eating at all.
Learning microbiology and genetics have really made me force myself to eat everything with one eye closed because the knowledge of what I'm eating and might possibly be eating... really isn't very appetizing.
And they want to find out what they eat in their plate and send out the information?
Let's look at it another way... what they're trying to say is that it is possible to put a PCR machine in everyone's homes and have everyone use it to do DNA analysis.
The way PCR works is such that you will need a starting material that is able to bind to your DNA sample in order for that DNA sample to be amplified to an amount that is significant enough to study. And even then, only a short segment of the DNA can be amplified. So, you will be looking for specific marker genes that will tell you what exactly are you amplifying. Then, with that DNA sample, you will want to sequence it in order to find out what it is in the first place. You can most definitely do this with PCR as well. But it still is a very separate process. Not only that, the preparation of the DNA sample is also a different process which may require a number of other reagents (besides those you need to use for the PCR) and possibly a centrifuge.
Right, so they want them to make it common and put it in people's homes just to get it cheaper.
Suppose all that was possible and suppose everyone had a PCR in their homes. What if it was used on a blood sample? It can be done easily, surely. What if that DNA obtained from that sample was purposely placed all over the place? In a crime scene for instance?
Human nature isn't very easy to predict and it's very easy to be skeptical. It's also just as easy to be naive and want to believe in an ideal world where everyone's nice and kind.
Still... if it were to be made common, let it be made common in all health care industries and perhaps food industries and obviously in the scientific communities and academic institutions. At least, let it be made common for people who know what they're doing and are expected to be the most ethical and the most ideal; even if they may not entirely be.
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