Tempest in a spit cup

BERKELEY - A controversial UC Berkeley program to analyze three genes in the DNA of incoming students culminates next week with a keynote address and the first of a series of panel discussions and lectures that will run through October.

Organizers and critics alike hope these events will spark a campus-wide discussion of the pros and cons of genetic testing and the promise or peril of personalized medicine.

A Sept. 13 lecture, "Looking for the Good News in Your Genome," by campus geneticist Jasper Rine, will set the stage with a discussion of the promise new DNA technologies hold for improving human health.

Highlights of additional events include:

• A Sept. 14 faculty panel discussion on "Genes & Behavior"
• A Sept. 16 panel on "Direct-to-Consumer DNA Testing" that includes representatives from the genetic testing industry and genetic privacy groups
• Panel discussions on "Fictionalizing Science and the Genome" and the "Uses and Abuses of Genomic Knowledge" on Sept. 20 and 21, respectively
• A final keynote address on Sept. 29, "Personal Genomics and Public Angst," by Alta Charo, a special advisor to the...