The benefits are huge of the knowledge learned with knowing your genome. My fear is that it takes us one step closer to the society in Gattaca. I envision that it will start in the sports world where athlete's genomes will be used to determine their athletic potential. Its amazing that the cost is so low, but I can't help but ponder the possible negatives.
Now, its clear what you were getting at with the reference to the swine flu. As far as carbon tax, its good and bad. Good that it will supposedly encourage competitiveness. Bad that most companies will just move to a state or country that doesn't have the tax.
What's clear that this tampering should not be fodder for a flippant response about being the "new swine flu". If we can't trust scientist to do their job without "fudging" the numbers, then who are we to trust? I want my tax money going to more research, but now I am not so sure and thats the real tragedy.