UC Berkeley Fall Orientation Program Analysis

In 2010, UC Berkeley offered a new fall orientation program for freshmen students. It consisted on testing student’s gene to find out how they metabolized lactose, alcohol, and folates. This program led to a huge argument about the ethics behind genetic testing conducted in a non-medical setting. Although UC Berkeley wanted to run this program, California Department of Public Health raised a question about having a doctor 's order that kind of test (Devore). Some people say that this program is a good idea because it was an innovative, was created health lifestyle to help students, and was an opportunity to learn about personalized medicine. Other people say that it was a bad idea because of possible misinterpretation of the test, privacy and test accuracy. I agree with the latter. Therefore, the UC Berkeley fall orientation program or “Bring your Genes to Cal” was a bad idea. One reason why I do not support that the UC Berkeley fall orientation program or “Bring your Genes to Cal” was a bad idea is that student might misinterpret their results. If UC Berkeley’s students discover that they have a tolerance to alcohol, it might encourage them drink more alcoholic beverages. I agree with Hank Greely, the director of Stanford university ‘s …show more content…
When the students ' DNA information’s is registered on the computer, anyone can see the students’ information. The internet has become part of daily people activity, so the students’ privacy exposed to third parties. According to Jeremy Gruber, president of the Council for Responsible Genetics, based in Cambridge, “It showed a lack of due diligence and consideration” (qtd. in Gordon).Today it is so much easier to get private information from internet, so we all have to be careful. UC Berkeley acted irresponsible by exposing personal information