|
|
Article: Norse code.(bioprospecting in Iceland )(Abstract)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- December 5, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
A fierce debate in Iceland over genetics foreshadows many future, similar battles elsewhere
IN THE next few days, Iceland's parliament, the Althing, will debate a bill to allow its citizens' medical records, family trees and assorted genetic information to be combined into a single computerised database. The plan is the brainchild of Kari Stefansson, the head of deCode genetics, an Icelandic biotechnology company. He and other advocates of the database, including Iceland's prime minister, David Oddsson, argue that it would be good for the health of Icelanders. Their critics wonder if it is not the commercial health of deCode that will actually be served best by ...