Working Groups
Predictive genetic diagnostics as an instrument of disease prevention
The best prerequisite for effective disease prevention is early detection. Science is aware of a growing number of genetic variants tied to our predisposition to disease. Prevention or early detection is a possibility for some. Genetic diagnostics is constantly improving while costs are sinking. At the same time the number of questionable tests that are sold over the Internet is rising. They are directed at the consumer, however often they are not accompanied by qualified genetic advice. A working group, established by the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina together with the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science and Humanities and the German Academy of Science and Engineering acatech, presented an expert report on the opportunities and limits of predictive genetic diagnostics in healthy people in autumn 2010.
The expert report helps answer the following questions:
- When does predictive genetic diagnostics make sense in terms of preventing disease and when not?
- How can questionable offers over the Internet be dealt with sensibly?
- What demands do improved technological capabilities make on diagnostics?
- How can current laws in Germany, particularly the Gene Diagnostics Law, be developed further?
Institutions
- National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
- Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (BBAW) (for the Union of German Academies of Sciences)
- German Academy of Science and Engineering acatech
Spokesperson of the Working Group
- Prof. Dr. Peter Propping ML
Institut für Humangenetik, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Members of the Working Group
- Prof. Dr. Claus Bartram ML
Humangenetik, Heidelberg - Prof. Dr. Matthias Brandis ML
Pädiatrie, Freiburg - Prof. Dr. Thomas Cremer ML
Humangenetik, München - Prof. Dr. Detlev Ganten ML
Pharmakologie und molekulare Medizin, Berlin - Prof. Dr. Reiner Leidl
Gesundheitsökonomie, München - Prof. Dr. Markus Löffler
Medizinische Informatik, Leipzig - Prof. Dr. André Reis ML
Humangenetik, Erlangen - Prof. Dr. Hans-Hilger Ropers
Humangenetik, Berlin - Prof. Dr. Jörg Schmidtke
Humangenetik, Hannover - Prof. Dr. Ludger Schöls
Neurologie, Tübingen - Prof. Dr. Karl Sperling ML
Humangenetik, Berlin - Prof. Dr. Jochen Taupitz ML
Medizinrecht, Mannheim - Prof. Dr. Gerd Utermann ML
Humangenetik, Innsbruck - Prof. Dr. Ulrich Walter ML
Klinische Biochemie und Pathobiochemie, Würzburg - Prof. Dr. Karl Werdan ML
Innere Medizin / Kardiologie, Halle (Saale) - Prof. Dr. Dr. Urban Wiesing
Medizinethik, Tübingen
ML = Member of the Leopoldina
Related Publications
Standing Committees and Subjects
Life Sciences
