THE spectre of the genetic underclass raised its head again last week in
Britain. A government committee announced that two genetic tests for
Huntington’s disease can reliably predict whether someone will develop the fatal
brain disorder. Insurance companies now have carte blanche to ask people who’ve
had these tests what the result was. That means they can change people’s
premiums accordingly—or deny them insurance altogether.
Groups opposed to gene testing warn that people with “disease genes” will be
consigned to a social limbo—denied of opportunities that most people take
for granted. Insurance companies say nothing’s changed: they’ve been…
