Are we ready for the genomic era? Insights from judges and lawyers

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Selita, Fatos; Chapman, Robert; Kovas, Yulia and Likhanov, Maxim. 2024. Are we ready for the genomic era? Insights from judges and lawyers. New Genetics and Society, 43(1), e2367210. ISSN 1463-6778 [Article]

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/14636778.2024.2367210

Abstract or Description

Genetic advances have brought new opportunities to society, with new powers of polygenic prediction, genetic engineering and gene-based environmental interventions. Judges and lawyers influence interpretations and attitudes towards complex societal issues and develop regulation. Therefore, their genetic literacy and views are an important part of society’s readiness for the genomic era. The study explored judges’ and lawyers’ (N = 117) genetic literacy, as well as views on the use of genetic advances. Quantitative and qualitative analyses showed insufficient knowledge of essential genetic concepts, including striking cases of over- and under-estimation of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. Participants’ views on every issue were widely varied, from strong agreement to strong disagreement. The majority of the participants thought that current laws are not sufficient to protect individuals from misuses of genetic data. The results suggest that society is not ready for the genomic era and call for multidisciplinary efforts to increase the readiness.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1080/14636778.2024.2367210

Data Access Statement:

All data are available upon request from the corresponding author (fatos.selita@gold.ac.uk). The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to being part of a larger dataset, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Keywords:

Genetic advances; genomic era; judges’ genetic knowledge; judges’ views; regulation of genetics; genetic data use and misuse; lawyers’ genetic knowledge and views

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Psychology

Dates: