The traditional welcome packet, replete with tri-fold brochures about campus safety, has a new addition this year: a cotton swab. Now, colleges are asking for their students’ DNA sample. At UC Berkeley, administrators are asking student to (voluntarily) provide samples of their DNA.
The cotton swabs will come with two bar code labels. One label will be put on the DNA sample and the other is kept for the students’ own records.

The “confidential” process is being overseen by Jasper Rine, a campus professor of Genetics and Development Biology, who says the test results will help students make decisions about their diet and lifestyle.Once the DNA sample is sent in and tested, it will show the student’s ability to tolerate alcohol, absorb folic acid and metabolize lactose.

Part of the future of science? Or an invasion of privacy? According to the Dean of the Division of Biological Sciences, “You won’t see this anywhere else in higher ed”.

So, is that a good thing or a bad thing?