Should you post your DNA to publicly accessible databases?

An article about how police in Wisconsin used publicly available DNA to find a killer spurred me to consider whether we have a duty to perform DNA testing on ourselves to provide police with data to track down killers and rapists in cold cases. Or does police use of our data without our permission invade our privacy?

My instincts in approaching questions like is are libertarian.

I’ve asked to be cremated. I’m thrifty, and it’s cheaper to cremate than to embalm and bury. But also, I abhor the thought of future archeologists digging up my casket, measuring my tooth-wear to determine my age or extracting my DNA to discover whether I’m related to Jack the Ripper or Madonna.

As much as I am a libertarian, I also believe we have a responsibility to help each other. That includes helping the police catch criminals. Might preserving a sample of my DNA for posterity help bring a second cousin thrice removed to justice?

Is it a civic responsibility to patriciate in DNA mania?

I have a dilemma. I’m willing to help the police solve crimes. I do not want corporations to have access to my genetic markers. The individuals who run corporations have shown little constraint in using personal data to enhance their profit.

Given access to my DNA, they would surely try to charge me more for health or life insurance if I am more prone to cancer than the average American. They’ll increase my long-term care premiums if I have an elevated risk of Alzheimer’s. And if the government prohibits them from using genetic markers to raise my costs, corporations will find a way to deny me coverage if I’m going to cost them more.

Am I willing to put up with that? Hell no! The libertarian wins over the socially conscious citizen.

Perhaps I could compromise and provide the world my DNA after I die. Then corporations can’t use my genes against me.

Oh, but they could use my DNA against my children, couldn’t they!

I don’t see a simple solution. Do you?

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James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree series. Full of mystery and suspense, these thrillers explore financial crimes, family relationships, and what happens when they mix. False Bottom, the sixth novel in the series—this one set in the Boston area—is now available. You can sign up for his newsletter and find more information about Jim and his books at https://jamesmjackson.com.

Happy Last Year of the Decade

Happy New Year everyone.

There seems to be a controversy every ten years about when a new decade starts. Thankfully, I will not live to experience this debate on steroids when the next century comes around.

I’m a numbers guy and have admitted on an earlier blog to missing the old odometers that gradually rolled over to a new thousand, or ten thousand, or one hundred thousand, the nines slowly being pulled around the circle and replaced by zeros. I’ve damned near crashed a car trying too hard to catch the exact moment when a newer car with a digital odometer changed from 49999 to 50000.

And later this year I will celebrate (well, I hope I will, there are no guarantees) completing my seventh decade when I turn 70.

All these social cues lead us to believe that calendar decades also end on nines, meaning the new decade starts with a zero as the last number. The social cues are leading us astray.

My odometer and my age both started life at zero, and so, the order of ten is 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.

When Pope Gregory instituted the Gregorian Calendar, parent to our “Common Era” calendar, it did not start at zero, it started at 1. The Pope skipped zero! Similarly, if we are referring to years before the Common Era, we start counting at minus one! The order of years when we are dealing with the first decade of the Common Era calendar is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.

Quod erat demonstradum: our current calendar decade still has one year to go before it’s over. Which doesn’t mean this year isn’t starting a new decade—it is, as does every new year, as does every new day. It’s just a matter of focusing on the future ten years starting now.

So, when someone tells you, “Welcome to the new decade,” feel free to respond in kind (and unlike me, keep to yourself that it isn’t really THE new decade).

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James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree series. Full of mystery and suspense, these thrillers explore financial crimes, family relationships, and what happens when they mix. False Bottom, the sixth novel in the series—this one set in the Boston area—is now available. You can sign up for his newsletter and find more information about Jim and his books at https://jamesmjackson.com.