Human Genome Workshop: Ethics, Law and Social Policy

This workshop will bring together 22 distinguished individuals including experts in the fields of ethics, law and the social sciences as well as investigators playing key roles in the human genome initiative and related biomedical research. The purpose of this workshop is to attempt to reach consensus on the most important ethical and legal issues raised by the human genome initiative and to suggest mechanisms that can deal with these issues in the most effective and efficient manner. The aim is to identify those ethical and legal issues on which there is consensus, and to crystallize that consensus into a strategy for dealing with the issues. On issues on which consensus cannot be reached, the issues will be identified, and the competing views on them summarized, together with a suggested prioritization and strategy as to how to continue to work toward consensus on them in the future. The written products from this workshop will be both a summary article prepared by the co-investigators, as well as a set of proceedings. Conference date: January 24-25, 1991, Bethesda, Maryland