IPFS News Link • Privacy Rights
IPFS News Link • Privacy Rights
Parents across the Lone Star State are in an uproar after the Texas Tribune found that the Department of State Health Services covered up the donation of blood samples from 800 newborn babies
to a forensic database created by the US military. Although the blood
was taken as part of routine disease screening, the state gave the
blood away without the consent of the parents, to help the Armed Forces
DNA Identification Laboratory create a mitochondrial DNA database.
According to emails discovered by the Texas Tribune, Texas
state officials publicized the use of DNA taken from newborns in
studies on childhood disease, but deliberately dissuaded state
employees from divulging the use of baby blood in establishing a DNA
database.
The 800 samples were taken between 2003 and 2007, after a 2002
policy change that allowed the state to store the samples indefinitely,
but before a 2007 lawsuit forced Texas to ask for parental consent
before storing the blood. Currently, Texas does not need parental
consent to take the blood samples for disease screening, and thus
assumed they could donate the samples for research without consent as
well.
The sample are not labeled, and thus can't be tracked back to any
particular individual. However, the perception that Texas went behind
the backs of parents erodes public trust in the DNA privacy system. And
according to a recent panel at the annual meeting of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, public trust is vital for attracting the volunteers needed in genetic studies.