Dupras Charles, Song Lingqiao, Saulnier Katie M, Joly Yann
Centre of Genomics and Policy, McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Front Genet. 2018 Jun 8;9:202. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2018.00202. eCollection 2018.
Over more than two decades, various policies have been adopted worldwide to restrict the use of individual genetic information for non-medical reasons by third parties and prevent 'genetic discrimination'. In this paper, we bring attention to the growing interest for individual by insurers and forensic scientists. We question whether such interest could lead to 'epigenetic discrimination' - the differential adverse treatment or abusive profiling of individuals or groups based on their actual or presumed epigenetic characteristics - and argue that we might already be facing the limitations of recently adopted normative approaches against genetic discrimination. First, we highlight some similarities and differences between genetic and epigenetic modifications, and stress potential challenges to regulating epigenetic discrimination. Second, we argue that most existing normative approaches against genetic discrimination fall short in providing oversight into the field of epigenetics. We conclude with a call for discussion on the issue, and the development of comprehensive and forward-looking preventive strategies against epigenetic discrimination.
在二十多年的时间里，全球采取了各种政策来限制第三方出于非医学原因使用个人基因信息，并防止“基因歧视”。在本文中，我们提请注意保险公司和法医科学家对个人基因信息日益增长的兴趣。我们质疑这种兴趣是否会导致“表观遗传歧视”——基于个人实际或假定的表观遗传特征对个人或群体进行差别对待或滥用性剖析——并认为我们可能已经面临最近采用的针对基因歧视的规范性方法的局限性。首先，我们强调基因修饰和表观遗传修饰之间的一些异同，并强调规范表观遗传歧视所面临的潜在挑战。其次，我们认为，大多数现有的针对基因歧视的规范性方法在对表观遗传学领域进行监督方面存在不足。我们最后呼吁对这个问题进行讨论，并制定全面、前瞻性的预防表观遗传歧视的策略。
