Informed Consent

Informed Consent is a drama that was inspired by a landmark court case between a large university in the U.S. and a Native American tribe based in the Grand Canyon.
I had to do some investigating before the play to get some background information. In 1989, Arizona State University (ASU) researchers conducted a study called the Diabetes Project with the Havasupai Tribe. This Native American tribe had high rates of Type II diabetes and lived in a remote part of the Grand Canyon. During this project, the researchers collected and tested blood samples, and genetic association testing in order to find links between genes and Type II diabetes risks. During the Diabetes Project researchers were not able to find a genetic link to Type II diabetes. The ASU researchers then used the same blood samples for other unrelated studies on schizophrenia, migration, and inbreeding, which are taboo topics for the Havasupai people. The Havasupai tribe and participants in the Diabetes Project came to the realization their samples were used for the later studies without their consent. In 2004, the tribe filed a lawsuit against the university and their researchers for using their DNA samples without their consent for other studies.
In this play, Jillian is a genetic anthropologist who is recruited onto a research project to help a Native American tribe in the Grand Canyon with high incidences of obesity-​related diabetes. The tribe is relatively small with less than 1000 members. Jillian is excited about this research because this tribe’s isolation from the world makes them an ideally uncorrupted gene pool.
The audience finds out that Jillian wants to eventually specialize in Alzheimer’s disease research for personal reasons. Her own mother died from early-​onset Alzheimer’s. Jillian realizes she probably also inherited the gene mutation and passed it onto her daughter, Natalie.
This play is about scientific discoveries vs. religious beliefs. This play is a little preachy about ethics. Jillian believes this study can lead to other genetic discoveries while the tribe just wants to figure out why their people are dying. The annoying part of Jillian’s personality is how fast she moves around and speaks without breathing. Is she bipolar, in a manic state?! Jillian’s annoying personality, no matter how smart she is, leaves no space to listen to other people. People like that get themselves into trouble. It’s an age old battle between science and religion, conserving beliefs and culture vs. scientific discoveries. Not one side is right or wrong. I loved this show.