Should the government keep all personal genetic information on file of everyone?

Answer 1

This is a hard question to answer and is one that is still being discussed.

Personally my short answer would be: No, they shouldn't. Genetic information is highly personal and should be regarded as such.

However, when you start to look at the value of a DNA-Database

you see that there are some very useful things that can come of it. For instance, by mandatory DNA registration it becomes harder and harder to break the law and get away with it. This means that burglars, murderers and rapist will have a way bigger chance to get caught and put to justice.

But there are a lot of

down sides too, your genetic information will be stored somewhere, on a server. Servers which we know tend to get hacked or compromised in some way. So lets say an individual gets his hands on your genetic information, this information can be sold to employers, insurance companies or personal enemies (this part is for the really paranoid people).

These people could discriminate you using your genes, for instance there have been claims of a specific gene to cause sociopathic behaviour which might make you less elligible for the job you want. Insurance companies for instance could deny your claims because the illness you suffer from is a hereditary one that you didn't report to them, this could be because you didn't know but that doesn't matter. The worst thing they could do with the information, which is really hard to do but possible, is create genetic material that has your DNA in it. That could be blood, which could be placed at a crimescene, or any genetic material really..

Personally I don't want the government to have my DNA but I do support a DNA-database for criminals, this would be a great way to stop them from doing it again since the chance to get caught just increased with a multitude of 100.

In the end it's something you will have to decide for yourself, there is no right or wrong answer.