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HGC welcomes Report on forensic use of DNA
19 September 2007
The Human Genetics Commission has welcomed the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Report The forensic use of bioinformation: ethical issues.
Professor Steve Bain, lead member of the HGC’s Identity Testing Monitoring Group and a member of the National DNA Database Strategy Board said:
“The report very helpfully draws out the complex issues involved in designing, establishing, maintaining, using and overseeing a national DNA database. The Database is a powerful tool in the detection of crime but important concerns have been expressed about when and how DNA should be collected and retained, and for what additional purposes the information might be used, for example in research.”
He continued:
“The report draws attention to the need to balance potentially competing interests of public protection and individual privacy. We are pleased that the Nuffield Council agrees with the HGC in recommending extreme caution in expanding the database and extending its use. We are also convinced that it is absolutely essential that the public is actively engaged in this debate and we hope to address many of the issues identified in the report in our forthcoming Citizens’ Inquiry into the forensic use of DNA.”
The Citizens’ Inquiry will take place later this year and will give a group of UK citizens the opportunity to explore social and ethical issues issues involved in the current and future use of DNA for forensic purposes. The findings of the Inquiry will inform the HGC’s subsequent advice to Government on this issue.
The Inquiry is being held in in partnership with Sciencewise, the ESRC Genomics Forum and the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Centre (PEALS) and is funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (through Sciencewise), the Wellcome Trust and the ESRC Genomics Forum.
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