HUMAN genetic defects are suddenly at a premium. A deal between Genset, a research company based in Paris, and the Chinese government allows the former to wade through scores of genetic samples from Chinese people for the purposes of medical research. What has, however, left geneticists in a quandary is the fact that the deal has been struck With a country which has a controversial eugenics law in force since last June. Apprehensive researchers fear that Genset's work will be passed on to the Chinese government, which will then use the genetic information to implement its law. Said David Sherratt of the University of Oxford and the president of Genetical Society, UK, that Genset should ensure that information gleaned and passed through the deal to the government should not be used against Chinese citizens.

The eugenics law forces Chinese couples who want to marry to undergo genetic testing. Those persons with genetic defects leading to certain diseases, mental disorders and other serious ailments will be allowed to get married only if they agree to sterilisation or long-term contraception. In effect, the government is taking upon itself the right to decide who can beget children. The loose wording of the law also allows the government the choice of specific conditions to test for.

Genset vows that it will stick to its ethical safeguards policy, which will include prior consent, while taking samples from Chinese citizens. Along with its partner, Tang Frere International, a French trading company, Genset avers that it will not participate in any population screening or even check Chinese couples for genetic defects. They plan to appoint 20 researchers who will collect the DNA samples from all over China and diagnose the diseases. And what awaits them is literally a gold mine of information as China's rural populations have not undergone any dramatic changes and each region has its own blend of genes and diseases. This should make it easier to keep a track of hereditary diseases due to genetic defects.

While Lu Shendong, president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, which controls all of China's hospitals and runs 25 research institutes and with whom Genset signed the pact, did not comment on the deal, Pascal Brandys, president, Genset remarked, "It is our intention to have clauses related to ethics."