A semester-long series of guest speakers discussed the Human Genome Project in relation to subjects such as federal policy for biomedical research, the scientific and medical advantages of human genomic information, its prospects and dangers to reproductive choice, to employment and insurance practices, and to the criminal legal system. (Co-funded with NSF)

This workshop, held by the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, brought together 28 interested historians, social scientists, biologists, archivists and research administrators to begin to formulate a national policy for the collection and preservation of research materials related to the evolution of the human genome initiative and its social context. The morning session covered an overview of federal agency interests, models for a genome research documentation strategy, and brief descriptions of ongoing and planned projects.

Dr. Rothschild will complete part three of her book in progress, Engineering Birth: Human Perfectibility and the Technological Dream. The project will evaluate the bioethics and feminist literature relevant to the book's central thesis: as the new reproductive technologies interact with values and beliefs about human perfectibility, norms are being set for the 'perfect child,' recalling, yet transforming, an old ideology.

This study will undertake a sociological study of the impact of the genome initiative on the social organization and dynamics of the biological research community, including questions of collaboration, communication, and technical strategy. The study will use field research methods to follow the evolution of the technological and organizational structure of the genome project. The research will use a prospective, longitudinal study of a cohort of key participants from the scientific community, in-depth interviewing, and participant observation in carefully selected laboratories.

An 8-part public television series on the scientific and technological advances transforming the practice of medicine, and the involvement of genetics in the issues medicine will have to deal with in the years ahead, including: the proliferation of genetic data and who controls it; medical intervention in conception and birth, aging and death; widespread expectation of rapid cures for all diseases; new surgical techniques; genes and mental illness; and ethical issues to be faced as the study of human genetics progresses.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) through its Board on Health Sciences Policy established a panel of experts to evaluate issues in the development, application, and use of tests for genetic disorders. This two-year study is addressing a variety of issues presented by the rapid proliferation of genetic tests capable of predicting future disease in otherwise healthy individuals. It is also attempting to develop responsible approaches to resolving current and future problems presented by the rapid application of genetic tests.

The Human Genome Center at the University of Michigan is supporting projects designed to update and inspire secondary science teachers in the area of genome technology and its implications. The Education Coordinator will do rotations in each core lab of the center and then develop and distribute a Genome Information Brochure explaining the activities of each core lab.

This conference will provide for an exchange of information about the scientific, clinical, and societal issues associated with the application of biotechnology assays to the diagnosis of genetic disease.

This project involves the research and writing of a history of modern prenatal diagnosis. Recent scholarly work in the history of science, technology, and medicine will provide the conceptual perspectives for the work.

The goal of this project is to study an historical precursor and parallel to the HGP: the discovery of the inheritance of the ABO blood system and the attempt to use it as a genetic marker for a variety of human traits and disorders. The literature published during the period from 1919 to 1939 will be analyzed based on research done world-wide on blood group distribution as a definition of race and the links between blood type and criminality, insanity and disease. Articles will be coded for several variables to permit statistical analysis of the overall pattern of research.