The Killer in Me

ITV’s latest venture into the world of Genetics came last week by way of the programme ‘Killer in Me’. An introduction for the programme on their website reads.

The Killer in Me charts the journeys of GMTV presenter, Fiona Phillips, former England footballer John Barnes, Heart FM disc jockey Toby Anstis and former newspaper editor and political presenter, Andrew Neil as they undertake a one stop DNA test to find out which common killers could be hidden within their genes. For the celebrities this is an opportunity to look into the future, opening a window not just on their lives but potentially their deaths. But just how much knowledge can they handle?

The lightening pace with which science is progressing opens the door to many new therapies and recipes some of which might threaten mankind others which might save it from some of our deadliest diseases. This latest programme opened up the ongoing moral dilemma in our fast and changing world – the DNA test. Presented with the opportunity to have 11 serious illnesses marked off on their own personal score chart, the celebrities had to decide whether or not to take the test and if so would they have all the results available to them or simply pick and mix – the choice was theirs.

John Barnes has a family history of heart disease and prostate cancer and an ongoing love of fast food.  His wife was anxious for him to drop the fast food and keen that he take the test that it might motivate him to action. He scored low on the gene for prostate cancer, but high on the gene for heart disease. It was a sombre moment as he sat with Dr Paul Jenkins and listened to his results. He took it on the chin and went away with a desire to mend his ways. ‘You cannot change your genes,’ said the doctor, ‘but you can alter your lifestyle’, – one of the main reasons, in his opinion for taking the test.

Fiona Phillip’s mother beat breast cancer but died some years later in her sixties from Alzheimer’s disease. She spent time agonising over whether or not to take all 11 results from the test. An anxious and obviously uncomfortable Phillips sat and twittered in the chair opposite Dr Jenkins as he went through the results. The relief on her face was tangible as he told her she scored low on several indicators for diseases. When it came to the Alzheimer’s test, she declined to know the results.

The world in which we live is changing. What would you do if faced with such a test? Will a time come when babies are genetically tested at birth and dispatched to ward with an expected life span and the likelihood to certain diseases mapped and labelled? Will such information be required by insurance companies to either accept or reject us as clients? The moral maze of a technically advanced world is complex indeed.

The world of genetics is vast – the fastest growing area of medicine. The implications for humanity are simply colossal but as with all advancement there will be winners and losers. The losers are usually the poor and vulnerable – those without money and influence. Our response to such a world is how to use science to destroy disease without killing off the most vulnerable it needs to protect.

As for whether I would take the test myself. I’m really not sure. I’ve seen enough of hospitals of late to want to take a rain check on that one, at least that’s my excuse – but what about you?