It appears that the US Senate is going to finally cast its vote on a 15-year-old bill with wide bipartisan support against genetic discrimination. According to Scientists and Engineers for America, Senator Tom Coburn has agreed to lift his hold on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, or GINA, which prevents insurers and employers from discriminating based on genetics.

The bill has passed the House of Representatives, and has the president's support.

"This is the first forward looking piece of civil rights legislation in US history," says Michael Stebbins on the SEA's Web site. "The protections it provides are essential for establishing any kind of real personalized medicine."



Update (posted April 24): The Senate passed GINA today, not surprisingly.