The International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) is sponsoring the Save GINA contest. I’ve written about GINA before (see “GINA: A Primer“), which is legislation currently before the Senate the seeks to protect people from discrimination based upon their DNA. The legislation is on hold in the Senate (see my summary here and here).
From the ISOGG contest site:
“GINA is the acronym for “The Genetic Information and Non-Discrimination Act” a bill that has already passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and pending a vote in the Senate except that Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma has placed a “hold” on the bill to stall it from being voted upon. You can read the politics involved in the following article in Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v451/n7180/full/451745b.html“
To enter the contest, you must be a U.S. registered voter and must send an email or snail-mail letter to your state Senator requesting that the hold be removed (and send the email or letter to isogg@msn.com). There is a $150 gift basket which includes a DNA test.
Legislation like GINA has been introduced in Congress every one of the past few years, proving that it is an important topic that our representatives should be discussing. Sending notice of your support for this legislation will alert your Senator to just how important protection against genetic discrimination is.
See more at Megan’s Roots World and Genomeboy.
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