Discussions on issues of economic and national security and health has left discussions on genetic background in the presidential race. However, the three main candidates on these issues before and during the active period in the Senate. Barack cheap nfl jerseysObama has prompted research on personalized medicine and regulation of genetic testing, John McCain has focused on stem cell research, and Hillary Clinton played an active role in all these areas, and the new baby and the genetic and environmental interactions. V
Genomic Research and Personalized Medicine
Clinton’s and Obama’s past initiatives demonstrate their strong support for and encouragement of the growth and application of genetics-based medicine. From 1998 to 2000, as First Lady, Clinton held nine events called Millennium Evenings at the White House. Each focused on a different subject, and included a session titled “Informatics Meets Genomics” that stressed the development and importance of genetic research.
Obama has sponsored a genetics-related bill twice in his approximately three years in the Sennfl jerseysate; both times the legislation stalled in Senate committees. He stated that the goal of the Genomics and Personalized Medicine Act was “to secure the promise of personalized medicine for all Americans by expanding and accelerating genomics research and initiatives to improve the accuracy of disease diagnosis, increase the safety of drugs, and identify novel treatments.”
The bill would have required formal studies of genetic technology in order to advance the field. It also sought to move this field forward through a national biobanking research initiative, and the 2006 version included support for local biobanking initiatives. Additionally, it encouraged the movement of genetic technology from the research laboratory to the clinic through increased training of healthcare professionals and the creation of genetic screening tools, diagnostics, and treatments from genomic information gathered from research initiatives.
Obama attended the 2006 Genetics and Public Policy Center’s National Genetic Policy Summit. At this event, he highlighted “the unparalleled promise genomics holds” of tailoring treatments to people’s individual genetics. However, he pointed out that few genetics-based tests had reached the market. This is what prompted him to introduce the Genomics and Personalized Medicine Act of 2006, he told the audience. Through the bill, he said he hoped to spur increased support for genomics, modernization of the Food and Drug Administration’s process of evaluating genetics tests, and the creation of a database of information from the proposed national biobank.
Genetic Privacy
Clinton cosponsored the Genetic Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance and Employment Act (2001) and the Equal Rights and Equal Dignity for Americans Act of 2003, which sought to outlaw genetic discrimination by employers and health insurance companies. Neither bill reached the Senate floor for a vote, but a similar comprehensive anti- genetic discrimination bill, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Acts (GINA) of 2003 and 2005, has passed twice in the Senate. In both years, the bill passed unanimously but then stalled in the House.
In 2003 Clinton and McCain voted in favor of the bill – Obama was not yet elected to office. In her statement on this bill, Clinton said, “Americans have already shown that they will not fully participate in genetic research or take advantage of genetic technologies until they believe that they are protected against genetic discrimination in health insurance and employment.” She added, “Discrimination based on genetic information would be a step backward for civil rights and human dignity.” In 2005 Clinton was one of 25 cosponsors of the bill, and both McCain and Obama voted in favor of it. In 2007 Clinton and Obama cosponsored the current version of GINA with 36 other Senators, but the Senate has not yet voted on it.
Clinton also has addressed genetic discrimination in other ways than GINA. In her introduction to the “Informatics Meets Genomics” Millennium Evening, Clinton asked, “How will we make sure that knowledge about our genes is used to heal us, not deny us health insurance or jobs?” Additionally, in 2001 Senate floor statements, she emphasized the need for Congress to address genetic discrimination.
Regulation of Genetic Tests
Obama called for increased genetic test regulation at the Center’s National Genetic Policy Summit and in the Genomics and Personalized Medicine Act. Among its authentic nfl jerseysprovisions, the Genomics bill includes “[improving] access to and appropriate utilization of valid, reliable and accurate molecular genetic tests.” Obama stressed that that this would require “greater attention to the quality of genetic tests, direct-to-consumer advertising, and use of personal genomic information.” He said he wanted the bill to increase the “safety, efficacy, and availability of information about genetic tests.” The bill would initiate a study regarding Federal oversight of genetic tests, create a framework for genetic test review, promote transparency by requiring information from federally funded biobanking initiatives to be publicly available, and evaluate direct-to-consumer marketing.
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