Gene scientists urge caution: Congress warned about possible misuses
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POLITICIANS must not be allowed to get their hands on human genes, the world's top geneticists were warned yesterday.
The British Nobel Prize-winning scientist Max Perutz urged caution on an international gathering of geneticists in Birmingham yesterday. Properly used, modern genetics could bring 'a spectacular reduction in human suffering and an improvement in public health,' he said, but it also raised 'heart-rending dilemmas'.
Sir Ralph Riley, one of Britain's most eminent plant geneticists, said the scientists 'must always be on guard against the emergence of public policies with eugenic components, not only because of the infringements of human rights that will inevitably occur but also because of the unknown consequences for society that would result'.
In his presidential address to the meeting - the 17th International Congress of Genetics - Sir Ralph also emphasised that 'greater social and economic well-being for the peoples of the world' would flow from the proper application of modern genetic knowledge.
But he warned his audience: 'It is the misfortune of genetics that of all scientific disciplines, it is the one which is closest to politics.'
He reminded his listeners not only of past abuses by the Nazis but also that 'their contemporary successors, the ethnic cleansers, have chosen to believe that genetics is all important in producing the ideal man and ideal society'.
Dr Perutz said it was vital that scientists exercised caution in applying recent genetic discoveries. He pointed out that some Mediterranean countries had been freed from the scourge of the crippling inherited blood disorder thalassaemia by a careful and considerate process of genetic screening.
However, a Swedish programme to screen for a different condition - alpha-1-antitrypsin, which makes its victims susceptible to the effects of cigarette smoke - had caused widespread distress. When applied to the crippling degenerative brain disease, Huntington's Chorea, 'it raises heart-rending dilemmas'.
The meeting, which is expected to attract 4,000 geneticists, is being held in Britain for the first time since since 1939.
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