Genetic research and culturally specific risks: one size does not fit all

Most researchers are, by now, familiar with the risks that genetic studies present for individual participants. These risks can include employment and insurance discrimination, discoveries of mis-attributed paternity, altered relationships between family members, and changes in self-perception. Although there are few documented cases of harm directly resulting from a person's involvement in a genetic study, these potential risks are commonly described in informed-consent documents and evaluated by ethics panels and funding agencies (in the USA, for example, this is performed by Institutional Review Boards charged with protecting human subjects).