DNA Technology Regulation Bill - Explained

DNA Technology Regulation Bill

Recently the DNA Technology Regulation Bill was introduced in the Lok and then referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology. The committee recently, in a draft report, pointed out that some of the provisions in the bill could be misused in different ways. Before we go to the article we have to know what is DNA technology and what are the significance of DNA technology?

DNA technology is a relatively new way of testing DNA. This means that our genetic makeup can now be measured and compared with that of others. This has implications for everything from medicine and security to entertainment and crime prevention.

The interest in developing a DNA test is huge. The use of the technology is currently being explored by different industries though. The usage of the technology will not only help identify people but also solve various other problems related to health care.

Need for such DNA Technology Bill in India

Need for such DNA Technology Bill in India is really necessary as there is a need to address the issues like human trafficking, which will help the country in bringing the Indian family together, and in providing a protective system for women and children. Bill like this would provide a link between the police officers, with the members of the family, and between the communities.

It is also necessary to bring into the light of the public domain what is happening inside the jail. Jail is a place of complete isolation of the prisoners, which most of the time leads to the dissociation of the members of the families. Bill like this would help to educate and bring into the light the real importance of the relationship between the police and the family members. Let’s discuss about some importance of this bill.

1. Countries having such legislation like the USA, have proved a significant increase in conviction rate. According to NCRB, India’s conviction rate is 48.8% only in 2017. The conviction rate can improve significantly if the DNA Bill is enacted in India.
2. In India, Each year more than 4000 FIRs filed for not recognising the victim’s body. Not only that, In India around 175 persons missing each day.  The bill will help in identifying them very easily with scientific intrastate co-operation.
3. The Bill will come in handy during the parental disputes resolution. The Bill can also establish the identity of missing children and baby-swapping cases in hospitals.
4. Accurate and faster investigation of crime is feasible. Since the Bill maintains a database for convicts and suspects, the crime scene investigation will completely be based on scientific principles. This can result in a faster and accurate investigation by police officers.
5. The Bill will help in research works in DNA and also create employment opportunities for skilled manpower and other non-skilled jobs.

Salient features of the DNA Technology Bill, 2019

• The bill focuses on improving protection of genetic resources of humans, plants, animals, and plants of environmental concern, using an appropriate standard for identifying genetic resources.
  The bill focuses on curbing collection of genetic resources. It encourages a regime of informed consent for genetic resource collection and uses biobanks to store such collections.
• The bill discourages human genome sequencing without informed consent of an individual's relatives and with exception of forensic purposes, or without such consent being given through a national law.
• The bill encourages genealogy research using stored genetic information, and gives a right to a citizen to choose whom to provide genetic information to.
• The bill uses biobanks and centralized centers for storing, tracking, providing or making use of genetic resources.
• The bill applies to only genetic resources of humans and plants of environmental concern, as well as to genomic sequences for animals and plants of environmental concern.

Loss of privacy of DNA Technology Bill, 2019

The DNA Technology Bill does not provide any protection to a person if information is breached of any DNA database. Unlike many technology laws, the DNA Technology Bill does not protect individuals from disclosing personal information with government agencies. The Bill, like other laws in the country, mandates that data must be stored for at least seven years.

Along with an independent body to maintain the information, the state must pay an administrative cost of Rs 1 per search to be paid by individuals. While the privacy provision is relatively weak, it does offer some protection to individuals.

Technology-related provisions of DNA Technology Bill, 2019

The DNA Technology Bill, for all its good intentions, is yet to make substantial change to the existing technology laws. For example, DNA sequencing is a technology that has been around for decades, whereas several similar technologies have taken years or decades to come up in the market. Some of these technologies will, inevitably, become obsolete and are likely to be outdated soon. Thus, the law is quite weak in providing mechanisms for extending the legacy systems.

The DNA Technology Bill, for instance, creates the Section 4 of the Act that deals with DNA diagnostics and requires that all people are informed about the genome sequencing technology that can be carried out on their DNA samples. This includes informing them about the possibility of privacy breach that will occur when a personal genome is obtained and stored. However, the legislation provides no mechanism to hold the owners accountable if any such violation occurs.

Another weak provision is on DNA information for healthcare, similar to the ones in other laws. The bill creates a regulation under the law, mandating that all healthcare providers collect and store certain information about the individual's genetic makeup. However, it does not mention that a health care professional or a person carrying out the health procedure must notify the individual that the health care provider can carry out a DNA analysis. This gives people the liberty to opt out of the procedure and is likely to be problematic in certain circumstances.