US/Britain pledge gene sharing
The United States and Britain have signed an agreement to share data on the mapping of human genes.
US President Bill Clinton and British PM Tony Blair said research into the human genetic blueprint was "one of the most significant projects of all time".
The two countries pledged to share raw data on the human DNA sequence and its variations with scientists everywhere. Britain and the US are leading partners in the Human Genome Project, which plans to publish the full human genetic map on the Internet by 2003.
White House press secretary Joe Lackhart said the sharing of data would accelerate scientific advances. A joint statement by the two leaders urged private companies to follow the lead of government laboratories.
But an Australian expert in bioethics said the agreement was a sign that governments were getting worried that private companies would not release information they already had about the human genome.
Dr Thomas Faunce from the Australian National University Faculty of Law said much of the work on sequencing was now out of the hands of government agencies. He said many private companies had great expectations about returns on their research investment in sequencing human genes.
"But if private companies hold back the information, it will force work to be duplicated. If they patent sections of the genome - which is already being done - sure it will be available, but it will be locked up for anyone else doing anything with the information.
Dr Faunce said there was also a race on in the biotechnology industry to patent methods to sequence genetic material.