The New Gold Rush

In the wake of the flood of announcements surrounding the human genome project over the last decade, one would think the full implications of the endeavor would be more fully realized by the masses throughout western societies. Genes are the new frontier for the new age speculators of our day. Businessman and scientist a like looking for the blockbuster genes inside of us so that they can patent them and have windfall profits. Imagine some organization owning the "breast cancer" gene in your wife's left breast, no need to imagine they already do. It is therefore illegal to donate her genes to science for study without permission from those who own her gene. And now it appears they are after the embryo looking for genetic impurities to do away with. It is all apart of the new gold rush.

Question: If all that makes us uniquely human can be owned and is on its way to being, have we then fallen back into the confines of institutionalized slavery?

Response: Thankfully the answer is more no than yes. But it is yes in more than enough ways to make me terribly uncomfortable. Right off the bat though not every country views copyright and patent laws the same. China has consistently stood in the way of exporting our view of such laws throughout the world via the United Nations. However, if you can be discriminated against based on genetic predisposition in the future; it is difficult to imagine that a new dynamic in class systems would not develop. And inside the infinite possibility that introduces, an ostensibly slave class is certainly possible.