WASHINGTON — The vast promise of an era of personalized medicine based on genetic testing long has been haunted by a disturbing possibility: The same data that could alert people to serious medical problems might be used to deny them jobs or insurance coverage.
But Thursday, the Senate voted 95 to 0 to outlaw such discrimination, with the House expected to add its approval quickly.
The bill, which President Bush has agreed to sign, does more than protect those who undergo genetic testing: It marks a significant milestone in the effort to develop a 21st century architecture of laws to govern the revolutionary changes sweeping science and medicine.
"It's the first civil rights bill of the new century of life sciences," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said. "We made sure today that our laws reflect the [scientific] advances we are making."
Reaching a consensus on genetic testing protections was all the more notable because while scientific changes are occurring at a rapid pace, agreement on how to deal with the consequences is lagging. The current bill, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, was more than a decade in the making.
Meanwhile, a stalemate continues on the far larger question of embryonic stem cell research -- which may offer cures for diseases including Parkinson's and diabetes but also raises ethical and religious objections.
Controversy also continues to swirl around such issues as human consumption of genetically engineered food, irradiated hamburger and meat from the offspring of cloned animals.
In the case of genetic testing, despite the potential advantages of early identification of vulnerability to disease, the lack of information safeguards had made many patients leery of being tested.
"Now genetics will be protected just like race, religion and gender," said Sharon Terry, president of the Genetic Alliance, an advocacy group representing people with illnesses that have a hereditary component.
"We are on the threshold of a new era, because for the first time we act to prevent discrimination before it takes hold," said Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), one of the original advocates of the bill in Congress.
"We are taking a stand that, as we look to the future, genetic discrimination will not be allowed to flourish, to take root."
