House of Lords supports first UK genetic database

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7289.755/b

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Annabel Ferriman

Strong support for the Medical Research Council's proposal to establish a voluntary database containing the genetic details of 500000 individuals came this week from the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology.

The committee also called for the setting up of an independent body, the Medical Data Panel, to safeguard the interests of individuals whose personal data are collected and held on genetic databases.

“The Data Protection Act 1998 offers significant protection to individuals over the use of their personal data. It is, however, the nature of research that there are always surprises around the corner,” …