The least suggestion of genetic engineering throws rational people into a blind panic, as it should: Man-made innovations threatening to out-mode humanity have freaked out every right-thinking person for most of modern history. This entirely natural anxiety has driven a whole subgenre of speculative fiction, from The Island of Dr. Moreau to Kazuo Ishiguro’s tragic love story Never Let Me Go (spoiler, sorry)—not to mention at least two seminal Twilight Zones.

And, now, it’s spurred a frantic public response to a bill that would untangle restrictions on workplace wellness programs, which can include DNA testing. H.R.1313, or the Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act, was approved by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce last Wednesday. According to committee chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican and the bill’s sponsor, it’s meant to clear up a regulatory conflict and give more leeway to employers. Less so to kickstart the development of genetically superior workforce.