Genebase: DNA Comes To Social Networking

If you thought FaceBook's Beacon and web sites like Plaxo's life streams and content aggregators were intrusive, wait until you see the next phase of Web 2.0 social networking: Genebase. The premise behind GeneBase is DNA based social interaction. I can only hope that this a social network that is doomed to fail.

Why would I want it to fail? Aside from the obvious reason that it is incredibly invasive, even for someone volunteering that information, it isn't free. The key to the success of sites like MySpace and FaceBook is that the service they offer, finding people online, is not only easy but free to use for the price of viewing a few ads.

DNA testing and profiling is not free by any means. It is a technology that is still quite expensive. A complete maternal and paternal profile can run the subject almost $300. This immediately weeds out much of the population on the basis of affordability. That smacks of the first step on the road to eugenics to me (eugenics is the self-direction of human evolution, the manipulation of the gene pool, and one of Hitler's pet projects).

Genebase isn't the first site to offer invasive DNA technology under the guise of research. Ancestry.com offers a DNA testing option as well. The main difference I can see is that Ancestry.com couches it in the blanket of genealogy research and seems to control how and when the information is used to connect. That doesn't make it any less of a problem, it just means that the purpose of the site using the technology is not strictly social. They do offer a way to check your connection with other living families, but you already know them and suspect a connection.

I find either use of DNA technology incredibly invasive and rife with the potential for harm. That said, I think Genebase's use of it as a social tool is far more potentially damaging than Ancestry.com more restricted use. Even so, Ancestry.com could cross that fragile line at any time. Just the thought of a massive DNA database gives me the shivers. Think of what would happen if it eventually merged with Google's Health experiment? The impact on health care (or on the potential for withholding health care) if DNA becomes any kind of accepted social standard is huge.

If you are in favor of the Genebase idea, the site offers a standard set of social networking tools. They include blogs, family tree connections, groups and more. The web site is the creation of North American DNA company Genetrack Biolabs and has a shocking 600,000 registered members already. The fact that Genetrack also handles DNA analysis for crime labs and hospitals doesn't make me any more comfortable with entrusting them with this kind of extremely personal data about so many people past and present.

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