A colleague forwarded this interesting presentation on to me by Linda Avey of 23andme about the work being done on mapping the human genome:

“With the advent of the Human Genome Project came the birth of a new term and lifestyle: personalized medicine, which promises to provide better care by analyzing the genetic basis of a disease and tailoring the treatment to the individual. As the science of genomics continues to improve, the implications could rock the medical world — and the ethical one. But when does personal become too personal?”

So naturally I started thinking about how the implications of this could “rock the HR world.” What role should HR play — if any — and how should data privacy and protection laws expand in this new world? I’m not talking about genetic engineering and creating superbabies — that’s something still in the realm of science fiction… I hope! But rather what role could/should gene mapping play in recruitment and selection, competency management, training and development? For individuals endowed with certain SNPs causing them to have particular skills or to be predisposed to certain professions, what role should/could HR have in counseling individuals to move in (or run from) a particular direction, such as finance and accounting versus business development or research and development? Will we start recruiting and screening our candidates looking for certain traits that we “think” make an individual successful in a certain position?

23andme presents their new service as an interesting exercise in determining your ancestry and how similar/dissimilar you may be from your siblings. Certainly interesting dinner conversation and a great topic for social networking sites. But now — for only $399 — you can get a complete map of your genome.

How far away are we from a $35 background check as part of pre-employment screening? What role could/should HR professionals play in this emerging field? I’m interested in your thoughts.