“I have yet to see a compelling argument that the potential benefits of this study outweigh its potential harms.” See “ Giant Study Helps Clarify Role of Genes in Same-Sex Sex” “When a research study shows potential for harm, the principle of beneficence requires researchers to anticipate and mitigate any foreseeable outcomes,” Vitti wrote. When the study appeared in August, Vitti, who was then a postdoc at the Broad Institute, wrote an accompanying essay on the institute’s blog arguing, among other things, that polygenic risk-scores (which estimate the likelihood of a developing a certain trait based on the combined effects of multiple genetic variants) for non-heterosexual behaviors could be used to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation. The scientist who started the petition, Joseph Vitti, says that he’d been concerned that the Science paper might result in such an outcome since it was first published. “The promotion of this app and, in particular, the claims it makes are a gross and dangerous mischaracterization of the work.”
“Our study indicated that individual-level prediction is impossible for same-sex sexual behavior,” wrote Benjamin Neale, a behavioral geneticist at the Broad Institute, on behalf of the study’s authors. On Monday (October 14), the researchers behind the genetic association study sent a letter to GenePlaza urging them to take down the app.
