The Indian government has set up a National Bioethics Committee to prepare guidelines for research into genomics, according to a news report in The Lancet last week. The panel will look at ethical issues relating to research in gene therapy, genetic diversity and related areas, and also prepare a national policy for bioethics.
Meanwhile, in Germany, the planned Berlin and Brandenberg Genome Research Centre has at last been given the go-ahead. Plans for the proposed new 'virtual' genome network were drawn up a year ago by several of the country's top scientists. Institutes in the network will agree on a joint scientific strategy, which will be linked to the local biotechnology industry. The governments say that funding of specific genome projects will then increase by DM 30 million (US $14 million) per year, reports last week's Nature.
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