Genes, Society and the Future: Volume III

Genes, Society and the Future: Volume III is the final report for the current phase of the Human Genome Research Project. It investigates a range of issues about using genetic knowledge for the public good. In particular how human kind could misuse it.

This final report will complete a 3-year multidisciplinary investigation into the issues around emerging human genetic technologies. Two reports have already been published. These considered matters such as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis of implant embryos, issues surrounding community genetics, and the need for a Maori ethical framework for research relating to Maori health.

To encourage wide-ranging analysis and reflection as much as possible, the Project was designed to be interdisciplinary and international. In comparison with international initiatives in this area, this Project is unique in having such a full array of perspectives – all focusing on the same issues at the same time.

The text will be of considerable interest to a range of community groups and professions, including lobby groups, law practitioners and academics, and many involved in various disciplines of the sciences.

1. Main Findings

2. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis: Slipping Through the Regulatory Net

3. The Impact of Patents on New Zealand Genetics Services and Research Sectors

4. The Rakaipaaka Health and Ancestry Study: An Alternative Indigenous Response To Genetic Research

5. Genetic Research on Stored Tissue Samples: An Examination on the Ethics and Policy Surrounding Future Use

6. Scientific Responsibility

7. Unzipping Our Genes for Insurers? Regulating the Use of Genetic Information in Insurance

8. Pharmacogenetics: A Review of the Ethical, Social and Policy Implications of ‘Personalised Medicine’

The Principal Investigator of the Project is Professor Mark Henaghan, Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Otago. Thomson Reuters reputation as leading legal publishers, coupled with the close association we enjoy with the University’s Faculty of Law, were instrumental in our being approached to manage the publishing and production phases of this internationally-profiled series of reports.