UK - The Human Genetics Commission Principles and Consultation Questions

The Human Genetics Commission released today "A Common Framework of Principles for direct-to-consumer genetic testing services: Principles and Consultation Questions". A copy can be downloaded here.

The purpose of the document:

"promote high standards and consistency in the provision of direct-to-consumer genetic tests amongst commercial providers at an international level in order to protect the interests of people seeking genetic tests and their families. They will identify where individual companies and or national jurisdictions should have defined measures in place and the nature of those measures. " - pg 1

"The HGC is not a regulatory body. It hopes that these Principles will lead to the development of codes of practice that take account of existing regulatory structures where the need for additional regulation or legislation is revealed to be necessary."

Excerpt that references ancestry testing:

"Other tests can also provoke anxieties, such as ancestry tests that offer fundamental information about identity and ethnicity."