EigoPro 準1級読解 — Who Owns Your DNA?

When millions of people mailed saliva samples to consumer genetics companies, most were chasing a harmless thrill: a pie chart of distant ancestry, a hint of a predisposition to one disease or another. Few paused to consider that they were surrendering the most intimate record imaginable. A genome is not a password that can be reset once compromised; it is permanent, and it is shared. By volunteering your own sequence, you also expose siblings, parents, and children who never consented to anything. The consequences have proved far less abstract than that thought experiment suggests. Police, unable to crack a decades-old murder, uploaded crime-scene DNA to a public genealogy database and identified a suspect not by his own profile but by those of distant cousins who had merely been curious about their heritage. Insurers and employers, meanwhile, eye the same data with obvious interest. Legislation in some countries forbids genetic discrimination, yet enforcement is patchy, and the protections rarely extend to life insurance or long-term care, precisely where the temptation to discriminate is greatest. Defenders of the industry argue, not unreasonably, that aggregated genetic data accelerates medical research and that customers click "I agree" of their own free will. But consent is hollow when the terms run to thousands of words, when the data outlives the company that gathered it, and when a single relative's decision can betray an entire bloodline. The deeper problem is conceptual: we have inherited a notion of privacy built around the individual, yet a genome belongs to no one person. Until law and culture absorb that uncomfortable truth, the question of who owns your DNA will remain not merely unanswered but largely unasked.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

準1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the main idea of the passage?

DNA testing should be banned because it has solved very few criminal cases.
Consumer genetics companies routinely sell their customers' data to insurers and the police.
People who take DNA tests are mainly interested in discovering their ancestry.
Consumer DNA testing exposes a collective form of privacy that current law and thinking are ill-equipped to protect.

Phrase

we have inherited a notion of privacy built around the individual, yet a genome belongs to no one person

準1級読解生命倫理オピニオン主旨把握

⚡ひとことで

本文全体は「DNA検査は個人を超えた『共有の』プライバシーを暴き、既存の法・思考では守れない」という論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Consumer DNA testing exposes a collective form of privacy that current law and thinking are ill-equipped to protect.」

正解

本文は (1) 自分のゲノムを渡すと血縁者まで晒すと指摘し→ (2) 警察・保険会社・雇用主による具体的悪用例を挙げ→ (3) 最終段で『privacy は個人を軸に考えられてきたが genome は誰か一人の物ではない』『法と文化がこの真実を吸収するまで問いは未解決のままだ』と結ぶ。よって『個人を超えた集団的プライバシーを暴き、現行の法と思考では守れない』が主旨。

「The consumer genetics companies routinely sell their customers' data to insurers and to the police.」
= 企業が日常的にデータを売っている ━ 本文は保険・雇用主がデータに『関心を寄せる』と述べるだけで、企業が常時売却しているとは言っていない。
「The people who take these DNA tests are mainly interested only in discovering their own ancestry.」
= 犯罪解決が少ないので禁止すべき ━ 本文は禁止を主張せず、また DNA は逆に未解決事件を解決した例として挙げられている。
「Consumer DNA testing ought to be banned outright because it has solved only very few criminal cases.」
= 受検者の主目的は祖先探し ━ 冒頭の一例にすぎず、本文の主旨 (プライバシー問題) ではない。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
surrender a record	記録を明け渡す	surrendering the most intimate record
a notion of privacy	プライバシーという概念	a notion of privacy built around the individual
belong to no one person	誰か一人のものではない	A genome belongs to no one person.
absorb a truth	真実を受け入れる	until law absorbs that truth
remain unanswered	未解決のままである	the question will remain unanswered

❝例文

A genome belongs to no one person.
ゲノムは誰か一人のものではない。
They surrendered the most intimate record imaginable.
彼らは想像しうる最も親密な記録を明け渡した。
Until law absorbs that truth, the question remains unanswered.
法がその真実を受け入れるまで、その問いは未解決のままだ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問はオピニオン記事では最終段の結論文 (The deeper problem is... / Until... will remain...) を探すと速い。冒頭の具体例 (祖先のパイチャート) は『つかみ』で主旨ではない。

問 2

According to the passage, why does the author say a genome differs from a password?

A genome is easier for criminals to steal than a password is.
A genome can be changed only with the consent of one's relatives.
A genome is permanent and shared with relatives, so it cannot simply be reset once exposed.
A genome is encrypted by the companies that store it.

Phrase

A genome is not a password that can be reset once compromised; it is permanent, and it is shared.

準1級読解生命倫理オピニオン詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

ゲノムはパスワードと違い『永続的』で『血縁者と共有される』ため、漏れてもリセットできない。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「A genome is permanent and shared with relatives, so it cannot simply be reset once exposed.」

正解

第1段で『ゲノムは漏洩しても再設定できるパスワードではない。permanent (永続的) で shared (共有された) ものだ』と述べ、続けて『自分の配列を提供すると、同意していない兄弟・親・子まで晒す』と説明する。したがって『永続的で血縁者と共有されるため一度晒されたら単純にリセットできない』が正解。

「easier for criminals to steal」
= 犯罪者が盗みやすい ━ 盗みやすさの比較は本文にない。論点は『リセット不能・共有性』。
「A genome can only be changed with the consent of every one of one's relatives.」
= 親族の同意で変更可能 ━ ゲノムは変更できないと述べており『変更できる』は誤り。
「encrypted by the companies」
= 企業が暗号化している ━ 暗号化の記述はなく、パスワードとの違いの主眼はリセット不能性。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
be reset once compromised	漏れたらリセットされる	a password that can be reset once compromised
expose siblings and parents	兄弟や親を晒す	you also expose siblings and parents
never consented to anything	何にも同意していない	relatives who never consented to anything
volunteer one's sequence	自分の配列を進んで提供する	by volunteering your own sequence
the most intimate record	最も親密な記録	surrendering the most intimate record

❝例文

A genome is permanent; a password is not.
ゲノムは永続的だが、パスワードはそうではない。
By volunteering your sequence, you expose your relatives too.
自分の配列を提供することで、親族まで晒すことになる。
They never consented to anything.
彼らは何にも同意していなかった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

比喩 (genome ≠ password) を問う detail 設問は、比喩の『違う点』を本文が明示する箇所 (permanent / shared) を拾う。比喩の表面 (盗難・暗号化) に引っ張られない。

問 3

What does the passage say about laws against genetic discrimination?

Such laws have been adopted worldwide and are strictly enforced everywhere.
Such laws explicitly cover life insurance and long-term care above all else.
Such laws exist in some countries but are unevenly enforced and often exclude life and long-term care insurance.
No country has yet passed any law forbidding genetic discrimination.

Phrase

Legislation in some countries forbids genetic discrimination, yet enforcement is patchy, and the protections rarely extend to life insurance or long-term care

準1級読解生命倫理オピニオン詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

差別禁止法は一部の国にあるが、執行はムラがあり、保護は生命保険・長期介護にはほぼ及ばない。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Such laws exist in some countries but are unevenly enforced and often exclude life and long-term care insurance.」

正解

第2段で『一部の国の法律は遺伝的差別を禁じるが、enforcement is patchy (執行はムラがあり)、保護は life insurance や long-term care にほとんど及ばない、まさに差別の誘惑が最も強い領域で』と述べる。これを言い換えた『一部の国に存在するが執行は不均一で、生命保険・長期介護を除外しがち』が正解。

「Such laws have been adopted right around the whole world and are strictly enforced everywhere.」
= 世界中で厳格に執行 ━ 本文は『一部の国』『執行はムラ』と述べており正反対。
「Such laws explicitly cover both life insurance and long-term care insurance before anything else.」
= 生命保険・長期介護を最優先で対象 ━ 本文はこれらに『ほとんど及ばない』と述べており逆。
「No country anywhere in the world has yet passed any law at all forbidding genetic discrimination.」
= どの国も法を成立させていない ━ 『一部の国の法律は禁じる』と明記しており事実誤認。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
forbid discrimination	差別を禁じる	Legislation forbids genetic discrimination.
enforcement is patchy	執行にムラがある	yet enforcement is patchy
extend to ~	~に及ぶ	protections rarely extend to life insurance
eye ~ with interest	~に関心の目を向ける	Insurers eye the data with interest.
the temptation to discriminate	差別の誘惑	where the temptation to discriminate is greatest

❝例文

Enforcement of the law is patchy at best.
その法律の執行は良くてもムラがある。
The protections rarely extend to long
term care. — その保護は長期介護にはほとんど及ばない。
Insurers eye the same data with obvious interest.
保険会社は同じデータに明らかな関心を寄せている。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

『法律はある』+『でも穴がある』型の detail は yet / rarely / patchy などの逆接・限定語を探す。極端な肢 (worldwide / strictly / no country) は本文の限定 (some / patchy) と矛盾しやすい。

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EigoPro 準1級 読解 — Who Owns Your DNA?

この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

we have inherited a notion of privacy built around the individual, yet a genome belongs to no one person

A genome is not a password that can be reset once compromised; it is permanent, and it is shared.

Legislation in some countries forbids genetic discrimination, yet enforcement is patchy, and the protections rarely extend to life insurance or long-term care

EigoPro 準1級読解 — Who Owns Your DNA?