mutations often pass horizontally within the same generation. Just as
software developers might copy and paste code between files,
bacteria can pick up snippets of genetic material from each other. In
recent years, researchers have discovered that this horizontal
transmission is contributing to the emergence of superbugs such as
MRSA, as well as drug-resistant STIs.[34] As bacteria evolve, many
common infections may eventually become untreatable. In 2018, for
example, a man in the UK was diagnosed with so-called ‘super-
gonorrhea’, which was resistant to all standard antibiotics. He’d
picked up the infection in Asia, but the following year two more cases
appeared in the UK, this time with links to Europe.[35] If researchers
are to successfully track and prevent such infections, they will need
all the data they can get.
T of new information sources like genetic
sequences, we are increasingly able to unravel how different
diseases and traits spread through populations. Indeed, one of the
biggest changes to human healthcare in the twenty-first century will
be the ability to rapidly and cheaply sequence and analyse
genomes. As well as uncovering outbreaks, researchers will be able
to study how human genes influence conditions ranging from
Alzheimer’s to cancer.[36] Genetics has social applications too.
Because our genomes can reveal characteristics like ancestry,
genetic testing kits have become popular gifts for people interested
in their family history.
Yet the availability of such data can have unintended effects on
privacy. Because we share so many genetic characteristics with our
relatives, it’s possible to learn things about people who haven’t been
tested. In 2013, for example, The Times reported that Prince William
had Indian ancestry, after testing two distant cousins on his mother’s
side. Genetics researchers soon criticised the story, because it had
revealed personal information about the prince without his consent.
[37] In some cases ancestry revelations can have devastating
consequences: there have been several reports of families thrown