Genetic knowledge "must be used wisely":
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
People with genetic disadvantages need to be protected from prejudices as medical science rapidly advances, a UK genetics expert has warned. "We must protect those at genetic disadvantage from prejudices and ensure individual people are given real choice," said Professor John Burn of the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Newcastle. In a few years, he noted, every human gene will have been identified and this will "allow us to better understand why so many people are born disabled or develop chronic diseases in late life such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and dementia." Professor Burn is also head of the Northern genetics Service, which provides genetic counselling and laboratory genetic tests.