PEOPLE are increasingly keen to submit their samples to Personalized Genomic Components Collection Banks and DNA Libraries.
These repositories often collect detailed information, including CNIC and family data.
Their marketing strategies tend to mislead the general public, suggesting that preserving their genetic material will help them overcome illnesses through appropriate medical strategies—while failing to disclose the associated risks.
The underlying purpose, in many cases, is to support ongoing research and secure commercial returns on heavily invested mega projects.
These banks are also suspected of selling data and samples for research while constructing family linkage trees and individualized phenotypes—making individuals and their genetic kin eligible for experimentation, often without consent.
Much of the conventional understanding in biological sciences has evolved, raising concerns about the credibility of the underlying aims of such personalized genomic libraries.
Serious ethical questions have been raised about practices involving the collection of umbilical cord blood and blood samples from children, designed to forecast disease risk in adulthood.
Intentional or unintentional creation of genetic constructs can lead to the emergence of spontaneous elements capable of acting as biological bugs—possessing enhanced potential to affect not only the donors and their genetically related family members but also the wider population.
These biological mishaps and manipulations are seldom officially acknowledged or transparently investigated.
Human beings are composed of a vast number of cells, a subset of which coordinate to form tissues.
These tissues constitute organs, which perform specialized functions.
Together, these organs form biological systems that drive the body’s normal physiological operations.
The regulatory information governing cell functions, structural makeup, and expression of specific phenotypes (observable characteristics under given conditions) is stored in sequences of coded information.
Each code is made up of a sequence of three nitrogenous bases, integral parts of nucleotides.
These nucleotides serve as the building blocks of DNA polymers.
Every three-base sequence codes for a specific amino acid, forming the reading frame of a gene.
The DNA polymer forms a double helix through base pairing with complementary strands, which replicate to transfer genetic material to progeny cells.
According to classical biology, any change in the sequence of codes within a gene’s reading frame is termed a mutation, which can interrupt biological function.
The hereditary information, encoded in the gene’s reading frame, undergoes transcription to form RNA, which is then translated into polypeptides—such as enzymes and other cell components.
Research findings from over two decades ago confirm that enzymes catalyze ongoing biochemical reactions, including synthesis and degradation of cell structures, regulation of cellular functions, and evolutionary changes within cells.
They also conserve and transfer genetic material and determine cell fate—largely governed by gene operation networks co-regulated at the transcriptional level.
These findings have raised serious questions about the earlier belief in a simple cause-effect link between protein malfunctions, cell survival, and disease potential.
In truth, the intricate relationship among genetic regulation, environmental factors, and illness potential is far more complex.
With commercial and technological interests increasingly shaping research objectives, personalized genomic libraries are being established without adequately revealing the associated risks.
Concerns abound over compromised bio-safety, confidentiality breaches, inadequate preservation measures, and lack of traceability.
One example of scientific inquiry into gene-environment interactions is demonstrated through yeast models, which share substantial genetic homology with humans and are widely used for studying gene functions.
It has been observed that physical, chemical, or biochemical stimuli—along with specific biological events—can modify the impact of mutations.
These stimuli may influence essential genes within the same regulatory network, co-regulated at the transcriptional level.
Particularly important is the role of iron and copper ion balance, which when disrupted, drives oxidative stress and alters cellular homeostasis.
Such oxidative shifts can impact both cellular physiology and biochemical processes, potentially changing a cell’s fate.
Cells may then express environmentally adapted phenotypes through epigenetic mechanisms—changes in gene expression within operational networks without any alteration in the actual DNA sequence.
This adaptive process enables healthy cells to evolve altered phenotypes and escape pre-death events like apoptosis, necrosis, or ferroptosis.
These observations also emphasize the vital role of food in maintaining health.
Food affects oxidative balance, which in turn influences gene operation and cellular function.
In cases where health conditions are linked to genetic mutations or deficiencies, consuming a pure, natural diet regularly—while avoiding ultra-processed, commercially prepared food—can play a preventive and therapeutic role.
The potential for misusing genomic data—collected under the guise of medical advancement—requires urgent ethical scrutiny.
When individuals surrender their biological samples without full knowledge of the implications, they are at risk of becoming silent participants in experimental research.
The construction of family linkage trees and mapping of phenotypes may have far-reaching consequences, not only for individuals but also for their descendants and wider communities.
In light of these developments, there is a dire need for robust legal and ethical frameworks to safeguard personal genetic information.
Transparency in research objectives, informed consent, bio-safety regulations, and public awareness must form the backbone of any initiative involving genomic data.
Without these, the promise of personalized medicine may end up compromising the very individuals it aims to help.
—The writer is based in Karachi and occasionally contributes to the national press. (faizaabdurrub@hotmail.com)
