Public Health Genomics European Network
A European Union network has been established to define and examine public health genomics - PHGEN (Public Health Genomics European Network), One of the first questions it will ask is:
What exactly is public health genomics and how does it differ from public health genetics?
Good question. Let me venture an answer.
- Public health genomics is the use of genetic technology on a wide-scale for screening and/or diagnosing large numbers of people in a population.
- Public health genetics is the study of genetic factors to understand their role in causing diseases in populations.
Does that get me a spot on the committee?
Three working groups will be established to examine:
- The major priorities and issues in public health genomics
- The specific issue of ‘genetic exceptionalism’, which questions whether genome-based medical records should be treated any differently than the protection offered to standard medical information.
- Functional, durable definitions for this new field: definitions which practitioners, stakeholders and policy-makers will be able to apply consistently.
I hope the committees will do more than talk talk talk and come to some good recommendations. Companies are already busy marketing products and services based on DNA data. How will they be regulated? The genomic revolution is upon us and some decisions need to be made about what technologies will be restricted to research and what will be made available for public use and how.
We’ve got to take some steps forward on the policy front instead of marching in place.
EUROPA, March 6, 2006
Technorati Tags: genomics, phgen, eu, genetics, genes, dna, health
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