Why would anybody do this? Please...give me one good reason!

a reply to: Phage

What is it that Monsanto is patenting?

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: 123143

Am I wrong or did I hear correctly - some of these research labs are patenting genes, aren't they?

You're wrong.
Naturally occurring genes, human (or otherwise, probably) cannot be patented.
www.theguardian.com...

Justice Clarence Thomas ruled that Myriad's assertion that the DNA it isolated from the human body for its tests were patentable had to be dismissed because it violated patent rules. The court said that laws of nature, natural phenomena and abstract ideas lay outside patent protection.

"We hold that a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated," Thomas said.

What about in Europe?

en.wikipedia.org...

European Union directive 98/44/EC (the Biotech Directive) reconciled the legislation of biological patents among countries under the jurisdiction of the European Patent Organisation.[1] It allows for the patenting of natural biological products, including gene sequences, as long as they are "isolated from [their] natural environment or produced by means of a technical process."[1]

originally posted by: schuyler

originally posted by: zatara
a reply to: queenofswords

It is a bit weird that a company with such a product is going around with commercials... The commercials are more expensive than the profit from the customers they will draw with it.

How do you know that? Do you have access to their profitability statements? Do you know precisely how much those ads cost? How about revenue? Do you know what their revenue is? Can you reference an SEC filing that supports your claims? Are they even a publicly traded company? (I don't know, myself.) How can you come to the conclusion that "the commercials are more expensive than the profit from the customers they draw with it." when you do not have any of the data that supports this?

Yes.. before I composed that comment I did some extensive reseach. No, just kiddin'... You are right I shouldn't have written those assumptions to support my case. I do not know nothing about the length of the commercials and how many times and on what hour and in which states these commercials are running.

But still, although DNA "splitting" has become much cheaper and faster I still think that it is expensive and a luxuary product only for the more fortunate americans...or people who really need such an service for whatever reasons.

But just for argument and conspiracy fun sake... what if it is so..? It will not surprise me if some federal agency like the CDC would covertly start a national investigation under false pretences because they do not want to alarm the population.

Ahh.. don't worry, I watch too many sci=fi and thriller movies.

originally posted by: queenofswords
The genealogy part of it is really secondary to their main business, which is gathering genetic information for medical studies and pharmaceuticals. You get to pay for their supply of material by buying their kit for "genealogy" research.

I'm not generally overly paranoid, but this just has a weird feel to it for me.

Is it possible to develop a "pharmaceutical" that only targets certain people with a certain genetic marker and all others are unaffected by it? Sure it is.

Like everything else, there is the beneficial up side, then there is the scary possibilities of the darker downside.

I frequent (lurk) another discussion site that is primarily African American posters. The prospect of a bioweapon or drug targeting only a specific group was among the very top of the possibilities discussed when 23 and me was brought up. And they, too, also thought that possibly there was a search for a specific gene or bloodline.

originally posted by: Cheddarhead

originally posted by: queenofswords
The genealogy part of it is really secondary to their main business, which is gathering genetic information for medical studies and pharmaceuticals. You get to pay for their supply of material by buying their kit for "genealogy" research.

I'm not generally overly paranoid, but this just has a weird feel to it for me.

Is it possible to develop a "pharmaceutical" that only targets certain people with a certain genetic marker and all others are unaffected by it? Sure it is.

Like everything else, there is the beneficial up side, then there is the scary possibilities of the darker downside.

I frequent (lurk) another discussion site that is primarily African American posters. The prospect of a bioweapon or drug targeting only a specific group was among the very top of the possibilities discussed when 23 and me was brought up. And they, too, also thought that possibly there was a search for a specific gene or bloodline.

Thanks for participating. I have thought for awhile now that this is a two-fold endeavor. Making money, of course, is first and foremost and they do that by selling the kits and then probably selling the DNA data. Who knows what clandestine reasons are behind this.

But, the second less discussed reason, imo, is that they are desperately seeking somebody...."the 1000 golden needles in a giant haystack". But, they don't want to disturb the haystack or even let it know they are looking for something within its straw.

They run their commercial dozens of times a day. They are cute and slick and I'm sure hundreds of thousands of people have already bought the kit and given their DNA to this google-related private company. Did you see the post above mentioning that a well-known investor in the search for alien life has invested in this company?

My questions for now are: (1) "Would you give your DNA to this company; (2) How could you KNOW for sure whether your DNA was given or sold to a third party; (3) What happens to your stored DNA should the company sell out to another entity; (4) And, lastly, do you think "they" are still looking for somebody....some special somebody with a certain type of genetic marker?

(1) Absolutely. I support science and human understanding. There is no legitimate reason to be afraid of what may or may not happen to my DNA.

(2) Why would I care? What is this "third party" going to do with my DNA that is so scary?

(3)Again, why do I care? What is the "other entity" going to do with my DNA that is so scary?

(4) No.

A2D

a reply to: Agree2Disagree

Clone you?

Just be glad I won't be sending them my DNA

a reply to: queenofswords

I wanted to know if my father was my biological father. He wasn't. Now I have access to three DNA databases to help me try to find my biological father; four after I take another test, which I will do soon. I think this is a good enough reason to justify any risk. I understand if you, and many others assess things differently, but I don't really care enough about what you think to change my mind.

a reply to: berenike

and why should I be worried if they attempt to clone me? is the genetically identical "me" the antichrist? Please.


A2D

originally posted by: redhorse
a reply to: queenofswords

I wanted to know if my father was my biological father. He wasn't. Now I have access to three DNA databases to help me try to find my biological father; four after I take another test, which I will do soon. I think this is a good enough reason to justify any risk. I understand if you, and many others assess things differently, but I don't really care enough about what you think to change my mind.

I had my DNA tested... it turns out that the grandfather on my pedigree is not the one whose DNA I carry. Since this is on my mother's side, I am doing a lot of research to see what my real roots may be.

Also, I'm rather disappointed that I'm only 1% Neanderthal. I'd been hoping for 4%.

If you look into DNA, you quickly find out that your genes aren't that special and are shared by a lot of other people... two from this group, six or seven from that heritage, three from another over here, and so on and so forth. We have around 20,000 genes (each of us) and the number of combinations is vast.