Advances in DNA analysis technology have raised hopes that it can predict a person’s personality and abilities, but genetic analysis only reveals tendencies and does not accurately predict an individual’s future. Evaluating people based on their genetic information can be unfair and raise ethical issues, so it’s better to use genetic analysis for educational purposes rather than evaluation, to discover individual talents, and to provide equal opportunities for all.
We are made from DNA. Cells read DNA information to make proteins, which then form part of our cells or function as hormones, neurotransmitters, etc. to build parts of our bodies. The muscle, nerve, and bone cells in our arms and legs shape our physical features, such as height and weight, and substances like hormones affect our personality. In other words, the information in our DNA contains almost everything that makes up our bodies and minds.
Advances in technology have made it possible to analyze the vast content of DNA to some extent. DNA has a code consisting of four bases, A, G, C, and T, and human DNA has a total of 3 billion bases. This is a lot of data to handle by hand, but modern supercomputers have made it possible to analyze it. The Human Genome Project, for example, ran from 1990 to 2003 and succeeded in sequencing 99% of human genes with 99.99% accuracy. Now, there is a lot of research being done to interpret these sequences.
As we get closer and closer to a future where we can learn about a person’s personality and traits from their DNA, ethical, legal, and social issues arise. For example, a person’s DNA could be analyzed to determine if they have criminal tendencies, allowing police to monitor them in advance, or a child could be cut from a youth basketball team because they have a gene for short stature. In these cases, one person’s freedom is violated, and the other is unfairly judged, regardless of his or her skills.
However, I would argue that evaluating people based on their genes is not only ethically problematic, but also not beneficial from a practical point of view, for the following reasons.
First, the results of DNA analysis are probabilistic and therefore absolutely unreliable. According to psychological theory, personality is determined in a ratio of 50% innate, 4050% acquired from peers, and 010% acquired from parents. Furthermore, even if a person is genetically predisposed to crime, they may not commit a crime if they are not motivated to do so. Conversely, a genetically clean person can become a criminal if they grow up in a high-crime environment. The same goes for traits like height, weight, personality, and diseases. Genetic analysis can’t accurately predict a person’s future, only their tendencies.
A classic example is identical twins. Identical twins are formed from the same genes when a fertilized egg divides, but their development will be very different if they grow up in different environments. Therefore, even if they are genetically identical, they can develop completely differently depending on their environment.
Second, it’s not practical to pinpoint the genes that affect a specific skill. For example, there are physical traits such as height, jumping power, muscular endurance, and judgment that can affect basketball performance, as well as psychological traits such as competitiveness, concentration, and persistence. But beyond these, seemingly unrelated genetic factors like dexterity can also influence results. Each trait can be further broken down, and judgment, for example, can vary depending on the situation. It’s virtually impossible to numerically rate a person based on all of their genetic information.
There are some counterarguments to this claim. The argument is that genetic information can also be evaluated as a ‘specification’. For example, if a person is interviewing to become a speed racer, the interviewer may want to use genetic information to pinpoint and assess the person’s talent. From the interviewer’s perspective, he or she would want to make an assessment based on all the information available to them, even if genetic information presents ethical issues.
However, if genetic information is used for training purposes instead of assessment, this objection can be overcome. Unlike evaluation, there is less risk of harm from analyzing genetic information for educational purposes. Furthermore, the use of genetic information for educational purposes can promote equality of starting points, as students’ performance will be similar to the results of genetic analysis.
First, the results of genetic information analysis are the basis of skill. Genetic information is very large, so statistical analysis methods such as data mining are needed to link it to skills. After accumulating the genetic information and corresponding skills of a large number of people as data, statistical analysis can be used to find the correlation between genetic information and skills. Genetic information analyzed through this method is more likely to be reflected in performance.
Second, if genetic information can be used to detect talent early, everyone can be on the same starting line. It’s a fact that talented people can excel in certain fields. As filmmaker George Lucas once said, “There’s no one in this world who doesn’t have talent. The question is whether you’re willing to act on it until you find it.” Nowadays, discovering your talent is one of the most important goals in life, but genetic analysis can shorten the process.
One of the reasons people are now attending various schools at a young age to explore their talents is because they want to quickly find what they excel at and build on those skills to lead a successful life. If talent can be discovered with a single genetic test, this could save time and resources. It also means that people who can’t afford it will be able to find their talents quickly.
As for whether using genetic information for educational purposes raises ethical issues, the answer is that there are no additional ethical issues when comparing before and after genetic use. Currently, schooling alone is enough to accommodate both the talented and the hobbyist. It is unlikely that a school would use genetic information as an excuse to select students for performance, and it is not in the school’s interest to do so.
In conclusion, evaluating people based on genetic information can raise ethical, legal, and social issues, and the results can be biased and inaccurate. Therefore, if genetic information is utilized, it should be used for educational purposes rather than to evaluate people. Discovering talents is a big goal in today’s world, and if genetic analysis can help us identify them, it could lead to a better life and happiness.
