Title: Gene panel challenge
(India still
depends on European genetic panels. This has to change)
ü In Nalgonda district of Telangana,
Sai Chaitanya, 21, has been waiting for advancement in Indian genetic research.
He has Ichthyosis, a condition caused by the mutation of a single
gene, which has led to the growth of fish-like scales on his skin.
ü Like him, many others are virtually
locked into disease-prone gene pools and yearn for early
detection and treatment.
ü In India, private enterprises engaged
in genome mapping now offer testing for relative genetic risks,
which effectively predict the risk of diseases such as cancer and
diabetes.
ü The costs involved vary from ₹25,000
to ₹50,000. The not-so-apparent factor in genetic test results is that they do
not guarantee comprehensive or accurate prognosis for individuals.
ü Across India, screening for genetic
diseases is a painstaking, expensive, and less-than-efficient process.
This is because the country has not yet developed indigenous genetic panels
specific to its native populations but continues to depend on European
genetic panels, except for prenatal genetic testing, which is specific
to Indian populations.
ü A genetic panel is developed when
scientists identify mutant genes that cause diseases in specific
populations. Each panel comprises already identified genes that mutated
in patients, causing specific health conditions, say, a type of diabetes. Once
the panel is created, screening any number of individuals for
specific diseases becomes cost-effective and efficient.
Title: The non-politics of outrage
(We need a white paper on the
extensive data markets that currently exist in India)
ü We are witnessing mass outrage over
certain actions or non-actions of Facebook (FB) and a British political
consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica (CA), regarding the use of
personal data for political messaging during the U.S. presidential elections.
ü It is not evident what the real
concerns underlying the outrage are. And lastly, there is the important
question of what it really means for countries such as India.
ü As FB has clarified, the only illegal
element here is that a research company transferred data to CA against FB
policies. But both the company concerned and FB itself could have
legitimately used the same user data for the same purpose of psychometrics-based
micro-targeted political messaging for any of their paying clients.
ü What exactly do we then have a
problem with? Just with violation of FB’s policies, or with
psychometrics-based political messaging and the collective national damage that
it causes? Is it, for instance, alright if FB itself did similar things
for its paying clients, which it has provisions for?
Digital
controls
ü Meddling in elections is a most
serious issue, but there are other equally important data-centric
threats — from complete data-based control over all activities and actors in a
sector by platform companies (think Uber, but the process will soon reach
as far as agriculture and manufacturing) to that of actual
informational warfare, by name, which can wreck countries.
ü Interestingly, CA’s parent company
also offers data-intelligence services to militaries.
ü Developing countries like India must
realise that they do not have the kind of leverage that the U.S. or
even the European Union (EU) have over global data giants.
ü As this data gets converted into
digitally-intelligent services in all sectors — from transport, commerce
and tourism, to education and health, to agriculture and manufacturing,
we are getting structurally sucked into foreign-controlled digital value
chains.
ü whether they influence and control
our elections, or economics, or culture, or internal and external security, manoeuvring
space for resistance will be limited.
Political response needed
ü The current exercise by the
Srikrishna Committee on data protection seems centred entirely on personal data
rights, which is insufficient.
Vocabulary words:
- Outrage (noun) = Fury, anger (उल्लंघन)
- Disclosure (noun) = Revelation (खुलासे)
- Exploitation (noun) = Misuse (शोषण)
- Disingenuous (adj) = Dishonest (कपटी)
- Naïve (adj) = Innocent (अनुभवहीन)
- Incompetent (adj) = Unprofessional (अक्षम)
- Meddle (verb) = Interfere (हस्तक्षेप करना)
- Manoeuver (verb) = Move skillfully or carefully (पैंतरेबाज़ी करना)
- Vaunt (verb) = Boast about or praise,
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