A group of the UK’s leading experts in genetics, medicine and bioethics discuss some of the ethical and social issues in modern genomic research.
Over the past three decades, genetic knowledge has changed dramatically and in the era of genomics, the ability to investigate a person’s entire genetic sequence could soon be possible.
New research techniques, such as Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and biobanks, which are storing an incredible amount of genetic information, have been developed to help study common and complex diseases.
Chaired by Dr Ralph Levinson from the Institute of Education, Professors Steve Jones, Jane Worthington, Dian Donnai and John Harris have come together to discuss a range of issues that arise from this new research.
Issues include; how will our experience of medicine change and will drug treatments become more personalised? And what can we predict about ourselves and our health from knowing our genome?
As research in this field is moving and changing quickly, the group also discuss what aspects of genomics should be taught in the classroom.
This video has been produced with Teachers TV as part of the Nowgen Schools Genomics Programme. Educational resources are currently being developed to support teaching and learning using this video. These will be available here in late September 2010.
