Minutes of the meeting held on 12 June 2001
Tue, 16 August 2005
6th meeting
NUFFIELD COUNCIL ON BIOETHICS
WORKING PARTY ON GENETICS AND HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
Minutes of the Meeting held at the Nuffield Foundation 28 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JS on Tuesday 12 June 2001
PRESENT
Professor Bob Hepple (Chairman)
Dr Tom Shakespeare, Professor Tom Baldwin, Professor Nicholas Rawlins, Dr Paul Pharoah, Mr Pushpinder Saini, Professor Terrie Moffitt, Professor Andrew Wilkie, Professor Anita Thapar, Professor Martin Richards, Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Professor Sandy McCall Smith
SECRETARIAT
Sandy Thomas, Tor Lezemore
APOLOGIES
Professor Martin Bobrow
CHAIRMAN'S INTRODUCTION
1 The Chairman welcomed the group.
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 2 MAY 2001 (RECIRCULATED)
2 The minutes were approved as correct.
MATTERS ARISING
3 There were none.
FACT FINDING MEETINGS
4 The Working Party agreed that the fact-finding meetings that had been held that morning had been very useful. Future meetings were scheduled for July. In addition, a group of Working Party members would attend the November meeting of the Hastings Center/American Association for the Advancement of Science group on behaviour genetics. The US meeting would coincide with the planned 8th Working Party meeting. The Working Party meeting would therefore be brought forward from Wednesday 14 to Thursday 8 November. An extra meeting was also agreed for 17 December. There would be three other fact-finding meetings in the Autumn, two with behaviour genetics researchers, and one with a group of philosophers and sociologists.
DISCUSSION OF MEMBERS' CONTRIBUTIONS
5 It was noted that the Report was aimed at a broad audience. It would be widely disseminated and should be accessible, with technical detail in annexes where possible. There would be a comprehensive glossary in the final Report. It was particularly important to include clear information about genetics as it was likely that the Report would be of interest to non-specialists. For that reason, it was suggested that lay people and media representatives might be included among the peer reviewers. The value of case studies and examples in illustrating concepts and research methods was highlighted. It was agreed that members would try to incorporate case studies in their drafting where relevant.
6 It was agreed that the Secretariat would prepare a summary of details about funding for behavioural genetics research in the public and private sectors in the UK and US, and a historical analysis of the trends in funding in this area.
7 It would be interesting to know which pharmacological products already existed that acted on behaviour in the normal range to enhance or modify it. For example, although originally intended to treat clinical depression, Prozac arguably had a mood-brightening effect on people without this disorder. Other examples included human growth hormone being used by normal adults to grow taller, the 'anti-shyness' drug, and the measures being investigated by the International Olympic Committee aimed at enhancing athletic ability. The Secretariat would research this.
Chapter 3: Scientific background
8 There was some discussion about the content of this section of the Report, in particular the level of detail about genetics that should be included. There had been useful points made at the morning's fact-finding meetings that could now be incorporated into this chapter. In addition, it would be interesting to explain new techniques in animal experimentation that allowed researchers to compare the behaviour of mice before and after changes in their genetic make-up. It was agreed that section on causation should examine the idea of a 'gene for X' and explain the idea that there can be more than one cause of a particular effect. This would be useful in deflating concerns and misconceptions about genetic determinism.
Chapter 4: Evidence reviews
9 Three evidence reviews would be commissioned to provide the group with up to date and comprehensive information about the current state of research in particular areas of behavioural genetics, and to give an indication of likely future developments.
Chapter 6: Ethical issues
10 In Chapter 6.2 the issue of freedom of inquiry was addressed. It was noted that scientific credibility was vital and that, prima facie, there was a question about whether behavioural genetics research could be justified if it was fundamentally flawed. It was noted that several responses to the public consultation had expressed the concern that the research would not be valuable or beneficial to the community.
11 It was noted that most of the research in behavioural genetics was conducted by academic researchers, but that pharmaceutical companies showed interest when the possibility of pharmacological interventions became apparent. There were other clients of this research too, for example forensic database co-ordinators.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
12 There was none.
Next meeting: 11.30am Wednesday 26 September 2001
Last Updated Tue, 16 August 2005