In 1729, Jonathan Swift of Gulliver’s Travels fame published a satirical essay called "A Modest Proposal." He suggested that a cure for poverty was for poor people to sell their children to rich people as food.

I’m borrowing Swift’s title to bring up another outrageous idea: analyzing forensic DNA databases for a genetic signature of criminality.

Is there a genetic signature for criminality? 
It’s an old and controversial question. (NHGRI)

ADAM LANZA’S DNA

Days after the Newtown shootings of December 14, 2012, headlines trumpeted the state medical examiner’s request of University of Connecticut geneticists to examine mass murderer Adam Lanza’s DNA. What exactly that might entail wasn’t announced, but celebrity docs, geneticists, and bloggers weighed in, nearly all agreeing that (1) violent tendencies are due to complex interactions of many genetic and environmental factors and (2) probing Lanza’s DNA and finding anything even suggestive of causing his crime could lead to stigmatization of individuals who share suspect genome regions with him.

The Alden March Bioethics Institute offers a Master of Science in Bioethics, a Doctorate of Professional Studies in Bioethics, and Graduate Certificates in Clinical Ethics and Clinical Ethics Consultation. For more information on AMBI's online graduate programs, please visit our website.

More than in any other academic field, I have observed that bioethicists love to express their opinion. This has lead to a great proliferation of bioethics blogs, a huge presence in social media, and a number of active email listserves and discussion groups. All of these are tools for bioethicists use to expand the reach of the field and an outlet for voices laying claim to the need for bioethicists to weigh in on a broad array of issues. Considering this, and considering the news of the last several weeks, it is amazing how little bioethicists are saying about the need for gun control. To his credit Arthur Caplan has called fortreating violence as a public health issue and viewing  gun control as a public health tool. However the dialogue on gun control in the myriad venues for bioethical discussion has been lacking. It should also be noted that the American College of Physicians called for this in 1998 to no avail.

What should be the role of the bioethicist in this discussion? First of all, bioethicists are people and people with so much to say should surely express their outrage on the ready availability of weapons of war in the hands of the populace and its use to prey on both innocent children and the first responders we all count on for public safety. But there are also issues which fall in the mainstream of bioethical focus which require bioethicists to speak up.

The Alden March Bioethics Institute offers a Master of Science in Bioethics, a Doctorate of Professional Studies in Bioethics, and Graduate Certificates in Clinical Ethics and Clinical Ethics Consultation. For more information on AMBI's online graduate programs, please visit our website.