'Public need gene technology protection'

Genetic advances could revolutionise healthcare

Action is needed to maximise the potential health benefits of gene technology and ensure that the public is properly protected, experts have warned.

Scientists believe that gene technology has the potential to cure most of the major diseases that afflict mankind.

Gene technology will allow:

Direct testing for rare genetic disorders

Prediction of patients' responses to drugs

Preventative measures to reduce the risk of disease

But a report by the health policy think-tank The Nuffield Trust warns that the government cannot afford to allow this work to go unchecked.

It says: "Whilst we should not waste the valuable possibilities the new technology can offer, progress should only be made in the context of a carefully structured regulatory policy.

"Such regulation should be sufficiently light-touch to maximise the potential benefits, but robust enough to protect the public."

A pressing concern must be to protect the confidentiality of medical and genetic data.

Massive influence

The impact of advances in genetics on health and healthcare will be enormous

Dr Ron Zimmern, Public Health Genetics Unit

Report author Dr Ron Zimmern, director of the Nuffield Trust Public Health Genetics Unit, said: "In recent years we have seen unprecedented advances in our understanding of human genetics and of genetic influences on people's susceptibility to diseases.

"This has lead us to recognise that the impact of advances in genetics on health and healthcare will be enormous.

"We ask that the UK government should take a lead in developing a policy framework that would provide a context within which scientific developments in genetics and their clinical and public health applications might be assessed."

The report suggests six policy areas for the government to consider:

• a regulatory framework to create the best environment for the sensible development of genetic science
• educational strategies to inform the public and train health professionals in the potential benefits of genetic science
• establish principles to underlie the confidentiality of medical and genetic information
• consideration of the financial implications of genetic developments
• support for the biotechnological and commercial sector, who must be signed up to a code of commercial integrity
• support and investment in research