Correspondent Europe : our genes.

'Our Genes' contains 3 reports: (1)Norway and Eugenics; (2) Sardinia - Asthma- Genetics; (3) Rome - Fertility Treatment. 1: Norway and Eugenics: The first item is a report on those Norwegians born to Nazi fathers and Norwegian mothers to fulfil a Nazi eugenics plan during the five year German occupation of Norway in the second World War. 12,000 such children were born, known as the Lebensborn. They were separated from their mothers and brought up in homes designed to form them into ideal German citizens. Many were rejected at this stage and consigned to mental asylums, and after the war their plight was even worse, for they were treated as outcasts by other Norwegians and denied education and employment. A Norwegian lawyer, ashamed at his country's treatment of them, is assisting them in their claim upon the government for compensation. 2: Sardinia and Asthma The second item is a report of co-operation between the town of Talana, Sardinia, where bronchial asthma is common, and the Human Genome Project at the Sanger Centre, Cambridge. The small population and detailed family records enable researchers to obtain a very informative genetic profile of the inhabitants. The fact that the research is being carried out by a local doctor encourages people to participate. One result of the joint effort is that a clinic together with genetic research facilities have been built in the town. 3: Rome and Fertility Treatment Dr. Severino Antinori is a fertility expert who enjoys controversy. He accuses the state of neglecting fertility treatment and rejects the Roman Catholic Church's criticism of his procedures. One of his former patients appears in the programme, Rosanna de la Corte, nearly 70 years old, who has five year old child born as a result of Dr. Antinori's treatment.