....I do believe in. In fact, I just ordered what some people will consider a super-silly purchase. I ordered a DNA test kit from Ancestry.com to trace my maternal DNA. (I can't order the paternal DNA trace unless I get a swab from a father, uncle, brother, etc.) I don't know what this is supposed to show me, but it intrigues the heck out of me.
One day, once we get past this conservative phase in history, we'll utilize DNA for all the good reasons--finding cures for diseases, eliminating birth defects, and preventing the transmission of genetic illnesses. Yes, I know what the naysayers are thinking. The next thing you know, we'll forbid certain people to have children, or we'll automatically insist on aborting a fetus with a defect. (I just read an article in Newsweek that mentioned that some people see autism as a "differently abled" that should be accommodated in our culture, not cured or prevented. I have some sympathy with that point of view, I admit, but I also have friends with children who have autism, and from what they've told me, they'd prefer to have children who did NOT have autism.)
Anyway, so I'm irrational, silly, and inconsistent. Sue me. Dr. S.
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