AFTER more than a decade, the US Senate has finally passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).
GINA bans health insurers from setting premiums or denying coverage based on the results of genetic tests, as long as applicants have no existing symptoms. The bill is also supposed to stop discrimination in employment decisions. “It’s the first civil rights bill of the new century of life sciences,” said veteran Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts last week.
This week the House of Representatives is expected to approve GINA, which should then be signed into law by President Bush. Geneticists hope…
