ABSTRACT
Property issues may arise with respect to the collection, retention, use and access to biological or genetic samples in a tissue bank or DNA bank. In order to study the genetic and environmental factors of some common diseases, some countries including Iceland, the Kingdom of Tonga, Estonia, the United Kingdom, and the province of Newfoundland, have established DNA banks. DNA banks may not be a recent phenomenon, though the modern generation of DNA banks involve larger population and are different in size, scope and format.1 For instance the proposed United Kingdom Population Biomedical Collection will be based on samples and genetic information from 500,000 adults aged between 45 and 69 years.2 The UK collection will be used in investigating the genetic and environmental causes of diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular conditions.3 The establishment of a DNA bank can be controversial, especially when established in a developing country at the instance of a commercial company from a developed country.4 This situation raises the issue of commercial exploitation. A report for the World Health Organization observed that:
1 A report for the World Health Organization stated that: The concept of genetic databases is not new. For the last 30 years it has been common practice to establish registers of patients with genetic diseases, aimed at providing genetic services to families with these conditions. For example, the Register for the Ascertainment and Prevention of Inherited Disease in Edinburgh, Scotland offered members of families with genetic disease active counseling as soon as they reached adulthood. Similarly, a register centered at the University of Utah, UT, USA was based on the family register of the Mormon Church to identify individuals with autosomal dominant hypercholesterolemia, a condition with a high risk of early myocardial infarction and death. Recently, a national database for families with thalassaemia has been established in the United Kingdom.
