M.P.s in genes.

Anne Perkins follows members of the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology as they undergo a crash course in genetic science in order to prepare a report which will set out policy guidelines on gene patenting. After a series of tutorials, the M.P.s experience a "total immersion" week with Washington geneticists, visiting HGS, the commercial headquaters of human genome science, the National Institutes of Health, and a Washington suburb where children undergo voluntary screening for the sickle cell gene. The M.P.s discuss their reactions to the U.S.'s commercial approach to research on the human genome and they consider issues accompanying genetic screeening, especially whether it should take place when no treatment is available, whether it revives the fear of eugenics and the problem of abortion, an explosive issues in US politics.