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Consultation: The forensic use of bioinformation The Nuffield Council on Bioethics would like to hear about your views on a number of questions raised by the ethical issues surrounding the forensic use of bioinformation. The period of consultation will last for three months. Using bioinformation for forensic purposes, such as DNA sampling and fingerprinting, is now considered a routine part of the crime-solving process. The UK's National DNA Database is the largest forensic DNA database in the world, containing profiles from over three million individuals. Samples can be collected from crime scenes and compared with those samples taken from people (with or without their consent) who have previously been arrested for a recordable offence. The database can be used not only to match samples to crime scenes but also to reveal other information about individuals that may lead to their detection, such as their sex, ethnic background, or the identity of family members. Those samples taken from those who are arrested (or victims and witnesses who so consent) remain on the database even if the person is not subsequently charged with an offence. This is the case regardless of the age or criminal background of the person arrested. These forensic uses of bioinformation have the potential to raise a number of ethical, social and legal issues concerning: - the interpretation of the bioinformation; - the collection, storage and retention of profiles and samples; - informed consent, privacy and confidentiality in the light of data protection and human rights legislation; - access to and use of forensic databases for purposes of research; - sharing of bioinformation for forensic purposes across international boundaries; and - governance of research conducted by or for forensic laboratories. The Council has formed a Working Group to examine the issues further. All responses will be considered by the Working Party. The Council plans to publish its report in autumn 2007. Deadline for responses: 30th January 2007 A Consultation Paper and more information is available at: www.nuffieldbioethics.org <http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/> ********************************************************************** 1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following message: set psci-com nomail 2. To resume email from the list, send the following message: set psci-com mail 3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message: leave psci-com 4. Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list archive, can be found at the list web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html 5. The psci-com gateway to internet resources on science communication and science and society can be found at http://psci-com.ac.uk **********************************************************************