Could Your Genes Hold You Back?

I just finished reading this article by Stephanie Armour from SIRS Researcher. This article talks about how new scientific discoveries mandate employees to submit to DNA tests. Like GATTACA (see post below), except real, this article discusses how people are being discriminated against based on their genes. USA Today found that many applicants are being denied jobs because their DNA tests depict that they are predisposed to certain conditions and traits that have the potential to cost companies a lot more money. Just like the fantasy world of GATTACA, people are being denied a spot in the workplace because of their genetic makeup. This could possibly create a lower class of undesirable traits/genes. A survey that was done by USA Today shows that many companies are already not informing their employees about what medical tests are being done on them. Kim Roembach-Ratliff, a 39-year-old teacher from Kansas, told USA Today that she could not receive coverage from her insurance company because a test revealed that her unborn son had spina bifida, a fault in the spinal cord that can lead to paralysis. So, in answer to the article's main question: yes, your genes can hold you back. Your DNA is not something that you can hide under your clothes or in your brain; it is an identification card that is forever chained to your body. If genetic engineering was introduced into our world, the people who were created organically would be discriminated against. Why hire a person who has a 100% chance of developing a heart condition when you can hire the 100% healthy, GM one? The business industry does not tiptoe around people's emotions. They will take the best and they will take the ones that cost them the least amount of money. The engineering of humans would cause this exact problem, along with many others.