Genetic bias vote in Senate, finally

Written byAlison McCook

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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 linkurl:agreed to lift his hold;http://sefora.org/2008/04/22/gina-cleared-for-a-vote-in-the-senate/ 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 linkurl:Michael Stebbins;http://www.the-scientist.com/2008/4/1/35/1/ 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.

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