Plea to record history of genetics

BioNews reporting from the BSHG conference, York: It is vital to record the recent history of human genetics in the UK before crucial documents are lost and key scientists retire, says Professor Peter Harper, of the University of Wales College of Medicine. Speaking at the annual conference of the British Society of Human Genetics (BSHG), he called upon delegates to contribute scientific records and textbooks to chart the progress of genetics in the twentieth century. The documents will be stored at the newly established Human Genetics Historical Library in Cardiff.

The mammoth project began last year, following fears that valuable material was being thrown out as scientists retired or moved on. In particular, Harper is concerned that old books, containing work not recorded elsewhere, might be lost forever. 'Scientists used to write books more than research papers', he said, but unlike articles published in journals, 'books aren't cited electronically'. As well as published scientific records, Harper is also interested in 'unofficial' documents that could help record key developments in the field, such as correspondence between scientists and minutes of genetics society meetings.

Although some areas of recent genetics history have been well-documented, such work has focussed on the development of the Human Genome Project, and the history of eugenics. Harper feels strongly that there is a need to record everything else that has happened in this area. 'In ten or twenty years time, historians and the public will realise that human genetics has been one of the most important scientific and medical fields of research ever', he said. As well as establishing an archive of key documents, the project also aims to interview all the UK human genetics researchers and clinical geneticists who have made major contributions to the field.

The most exciting find so far has been a complete set of books entitled 'A treasury of human inheritance', published in 1909 by Francis Galton, and unearthed at the University of Oxford. But more recent textbooks are also of great interest, says Harper, even duplicates - depending on who owned them and, possibly, made notes in their margins.

Although limited to the UK, Harper hopes that similar ongoing projects will take off in the rest of Europe and the US. The next international workshop on 'Genetics, History and Medicine' will be held at the Mendel Centre in Brno, Czech Republic, on 11-12 May 2005. Anyone who wishes to contribute material to the project, or is interested in documenting the history of their own area of genetics research should email.