DNA collection – where there’s a will, there’s a way

Unabashed by their resounding defeat in the European Court of Human Rights, government plans to collect everyone’s DNA have shifted to a different arena:

The Government has admitted it wants to store patients’ DNA samples on the new NHS computer system.

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo says her ‘long-term objective’ is to put people’s genetic profiles on the £12billion Connecting For Health database. And Prof Dame Sally Davies, chief scientific adviser at the Department of Health, admitted the Government was ‘determined’ to proceed with the plan.

It really is worth taking some time to read the information on the Genewatch site in order to understand the involvement of pharmaceutical and private healthcare companies, and the relevance of the information sharing powers contained in the Coroners and Justice Bill currently going through Parliament. (If you don’t already know what these are, Computer Weekly explains.)

The results of Genewatch’s meticulous research are shocking. You may want to have smelling salts or a stiff drink to hand.