§ Mr. BerminghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will outline any proposals to attract funding from agencies or other sources towards international co-ordination within the community to organise research into the mapping of the human genome, and in particular the application of work resulting from a human genetics programme; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson[holding answer 15 February 1989]: As, part of the allocation of science budget funds announced on 7 February 1989, the MRC was allocated £11 million over three years for the United Kingdom human genome mapping project. This project will serve as a national focus, for activities in this field, and will link with related international research. In additon to the newly allocated funds, the MRC already spends £9 million annually on genetics research of relevance to the project, and it is estimated that the United Kingdom medical research charities spend a similar sum.
The European Commission has prepared a formal proposal for a programme entitled "Predictive Medicine: Human Genome Analysis" and this will be considered by the Council later this year.