Aggregated News
Two UC Berkeley professors Tuesday defended a controversial plan to perform genetic testing on incoming freshmen during a legislative hearing that also featured testimony from privacy experts and bioethicists blasting the plan.
Lawmakers asked questions about the Bring Your Genes to Cal project, but ultimately have no authority over the University of California. Whether the project moves forward likely depends on the outcome of a meeting today between UC Berkeley officials and representatives of the state Department of Public Health, campus spokesman Robert Sanders said in an interview after the meeting.
If the state Department of Public Health rules that UC Berkeley's project amounts to medical testing, the university would have to have students' saliva tested in a specially designated laboratory. The university argues that it is performing research - not medical tests - which would allow testing at a greater variety of labs.
Because of the relatively small scope of the tests, UC Berkeley hasn't been able to find the specific type of lab willing to do the tests if they are deemed medical diagnosis, Sanders said. The campus...
Lawmakers asked questions about the Bring Your Genes to Cal project, but ultimately have no authority over the University of California. Whether the project moves forward likely depends on the outcome of a meeting today between UC Berkeley officials and representatives of the state Department of Public Health, campus spokesman Robert Sanders said in an interview after the meeting.
If the state Department of Public Health rules that UC Berkeley's project amounts to medical testing, the university would have to have students' saliva tested in a specially designated laboratory. The university argues that it is performing research - not medical tests - which would allow testing at a greater variety of labs.
Because of the relatively small scope of the tests, UC Berkeley hasn't been able to find the specific type of lab willing to do the tests if they are deemed medical diagnosis, Sanders said. The campus...