Nuffield Council on Bioethics issues report on behavioural genetics research 3/10/02. By the Public Health Genetics Unit Bioethics group supports behavioural genetics research but advocates caution in its application.

Reporting on its findings from a two-year investigation into research on the genetic basis of behaviour in the normal range (that is, excluding recognised psychiatric illness), a Working Party appointed by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics has concluded that it would not be justified to stifle such research, which, provided it is of high calibre, has the potential to provide important insight into human behaviour.

The report points out that the field is still in its infancy, with very few validated findings of genetic variants linked to behavioural traits. The predictive power of any single variants that are found is likely to be very low, though it is possible that combinations of variants – supposing they can be discovered – may be more strongly predictive, especially if their interactions with environmental factors can be understood.

The Working Party recommends more careful reporting of behavioural genetics research, both by scientists and by the press.

Despite the uncertainties, the group decided that is was important to anticipate the potential ethical questions that could arise in the future if it were to become possible, for example, to use prenatal or preimplantation diagnosis to select embryos on the basis of behavioural characteristics such as intelligence, aggressive tendencies or sexual orientation, or to use gene therapy to alter behavioural traits.

It concluded (though with some hesitation in the case of preimplantation diagnosis) that these applications would be wrong. The report also expresses concern about the potential for "medicalisation" of behaviour that is currently considered to be within the normal range, and suggests that the Department of Health sets up an agency to monitor and if necessary, control this trend.

On the question of criminal responsibility, the Working Party decided that carrying genetic variants linked, say, to heightened aggression that still fell within the normal range could not be said to "absolve individuals from responsibility for their actions", but that in the future it might be reasonable for such information, together with other information such as social background and circumstances, to be taken into account in sentencing.

The report also notes the potential for the use of behavioural genetics in education, for example to identify children who may need specific educational interventions. It calls for dialogue between scientists and educationalists about this issue, and recommends that until its implications are explored thoroughly, "genetic information about behavioural traits in the normal range should not be used in the context of the provision of education".

Article courtesy of the Public Health Genetics Unit .

Image credit: Fiona Pragoff