One of the key figures involved in research on the human genome has called on governments to outlaw the use of genetic information to discriminate against people.
Dr John Sulston, director of the British Sanger Centre, said governments everywhere should follow the lead of the US administration which has pledged to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of genetic make-up.
He said employers should not be allowed to use genetic information to recruit or select employees, and President Clinton had clearly decided this would be unlawful.
Employers might want to fight that case in the future, he said.
Dr Sulston was speaking yesterday at Trinity College Dublin, where he received an honorary degree (Doctor of Science) from the Provost, Dr Thomas Mitchell. "Scientists have to make discoveries, but we all have to be socially aware and make sure this knowledge is used properly", Dr Sulston said.
Within the next 10 years new advanced forms of diagnosis would be available because of the genome research, he said. After that "new and more accurate" cancer treatments would become available. The intention behind such interventions was to "fix the patient, not the population".
He also said it would be wrong to try and stop everyone having their own random characteristics, but the genetic discoveries could have major effects on disease.
He said genetic discovery made by the Sanger Centre was now available on the Internet for everyone. Thousands of companies, researchers and individuals were now attempting to produce products on the back of the genome.
"We are creating industrial wealth and we are happy to spread it around," he said.
Honorary degrees were conferred also on Mr Thomas Smail; Prof Philip Nicholas Johnson-Laird; Prof Martin Hengel; Mr Thomas Pakenham; Mr Michael Colgan; and Lord Haskins.