§ Mr. BerminghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will outline what progress has been made on developing a framework in which scientists from Europe and Japan can participate on the project to map the human genome; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. JacksonI understand from the Medical Research Council, which funds the United Kingdom human genome mapping project, that all research on mapping the human genome is a collaborative venture on an international scale. The Council of the European Community is at present in the final stages of considering a proposal for a74W programme of human genome analysis which includes among its objectives the organisation of networks and co-ordination, on a European and international scale, of researchers from all disciplines working in this field. These plans involve close association with Japanese and American groups. Furthermore the Human Genome Mapping Organisation (HUGO), an independent international body whose aim is to obtain a complete map of the human genome, includes leading scientists from Europe and Japan.