Letter: Genetic risks

Sir: Tom Wilkie is right to point out that genetic testing may result in discrimination in insurance and employment ('When the gene is let out of the bottle', 24 March). There is a double unfairness here. First, one suffers from some genetic condition for which one is not responsible. And then, because of this very condition, one suffers further from high insurance premiums or fewer job opportunities.

Mr Wilkie fails, however, to point out the obvious solution: regulation. Insurers and employers must be refused access to genetic information in drawing up contracts.

Yours faithfully,

ROGER CRISP

Fellow in Philosophy

St Anne's College

Oxford

24 March