Over the last decade the developments of biotechnology have created an unprecedented ability to study genetic variation within our species. Such data can be applied to a number of significant areas including the reconstruction of the relationships between modern human populations, the mechanisms of human adaptation, the pathways of human migrations and the contribution of genes to a variety of human disorders. Biological anthropologists, population geneticists, historical linguists and members of other interested disciplines are likely to reap deeper understanding from analysis of DNA variation around the globe. Those who donate genetic samples may someday also benefit by contributing to the understanding of the biology underlying disease processes. The National Academy of Sciences has stated that a program to investigate population level variation in the human genome is highly desirable. While there are tremendous benefits to be gained from population investigations, they also raise a number of serious ethical concerns. Questions surrounding informed consent issues, especially in populations with limited knowledge of science require much discussion. Intellectual property issues related to the genetic material are very difficult to answer. Safeguards must be designed to protect the rights of both individuals and populations that are at a political disadvantage. This award will underwrite the costs of a workshop that will bring together bioethicists, scientists and representatives of several populations of anthropological interest in order to discuss socio-cultural, scientific, ethical and political issues generated by the sampling of the human genome. The workshop will be held at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in February, 1999.
