2008 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2008. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

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Will I get to pick my kids' eye color before they are born?      Erin Ramos, Ph.D., M.P.H.: Supports multi-disciplinary research in epidemiology and genomics that encourages 1) the application of genomic technologies to existing population and clinical studies and 2) the development of new population resources for investigation of genetic and environmental contributions to complex diseases. We used to think that eye color was controlled by one or two genes at most. However, new studies suggest that traits like eye color and hair color are influenced by many genes. So, with our current technology, it will probably be pretty difficult to pick the eye color of your children Kittanning Senior High School in PA (10th grade student)

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