Genome Protection

Massachusetts state legislators have introduced a new bill called the Massachusetts Genetic Bill of Rights, reports Genomics Law Report's Susan Huber and Dan Vorhaus. The proposed bill establishes property right and privacy rights for personal genetic information and protects individuals from having their genetic information used against them, as in genetic profiling, Huber and Vorhaus add. The bill proposes to fill the gaps in genetic rights left by limitations in GINA and HIPAA. Among the bill's provisions: personal genomes would be considered "personal property" and insurers wouldn't be allowed to use a person's genetic makeup against them in matters of long-term care or life insurance, which GINA does not provide for. As Turna Ray notes in our sister publication Pharmacogenomics Reporter, the bill already has the support of several state senators and representatives.