I will read some new poems about people, technology, and tigers at the upcoming flywheel reading series, which will take place Thursday, July 3, at Pages Books in Kensington (1135 Kensington Road NW) at 7:30pm.

I will be reading with Asa Boxer and Dominique Frissard. Asa’s book, The Mechanical Bird (Vehicule 2007) will be available for sale.

This event is free of charge. I hope to see you there!

Yes. Navigenics is real. This is really happening (aside: can’t help but mention I’ll see Radiohead in Vancouver in August!).

So. Navigenics is a company that will look at your DNA and then tell you what health risks you uniquely have: 95% chance of colon cancer, 60% chance of Alzheimer’s, 5% chance of erectile dysfunction, etc. The company markets itself as an informational tool that you can use to better protect yourself (and, by extension, your family). With information about your health outlook, you can start taking measures now to counter those predispositions.

Right now, Navigenics works by probabilities, however in the future (perhaps even now) they will be able to indefinitely say “You will suffer from X by this age.” Pretty cool. Pretty scary. Also, they are adding more disease everyday. So you’ll get better visibility into how much you could suffer in the future. Then, you’ll have the pre-suffering opportunity to try to do something about it before it happens! However, I ultimately side with Navigenics. Ignorance is not bliss. It is simply ignorance.

I’m sure the founders of Navigenics are geeks, therefore I believe they have seen Gattaca—a movie which shows a future where people’s DNA is the primary way they are judged for relationships and employment. Although Navigenics works hard to present their product as benign and useful, they are challenged by some valid concerns from a society who hasn’t yet become accustom to what is possible with science. It might be a few years before they really start being thought of as normal.

I would be glad to have private and personal insight into my own DNA. The frightening element of this would be if that same information fell into the hands of my insurance company, my employer, or some sort of tyrannical government. I can just imagine someone losing a potential promotion or health coverage because his or her disease risks are too high.

If you have a chance, visit the Navigenics site and see how they communicate their potentially frightening product in a positive way. Those writers and marketers deserve a hand. Lastly, a reason I like Navigenics is that their service is affordable, about $2500 USD for your initial testing and then $250/year for updates, etc. It isn’t dirt cheap, but it is something most people I know could afford, if they thought it was that important.

So, does Navigenics scare you? Would you do it? Let me know.