NIH Requests Comment on Genomic Data Sharing Policy Draft
By Nicolle Strand,
The Blog of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
| 10. 23. 2013
Last month, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published a draft version of its new
genomic data sharing policy, along with a
request for public comment. The draft policy parallels some of the concepts and recommendations discussed in the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues’ (Bioethics Commission) 2012 report:
Privacy and Progress in Whole Genome Sequencing. The Bioethics Commission is pleased to note that several of its recommendations and core ethical principles are shared by NIH and
other law and policymakers.
The Bioethics Commission’s recommends in
Privacy and Progress (Recommendation 1.1) that “Funders of whole genome sequencing research… should maintain or establish clear policies defining acceptable access to and permissible uses of whole genome sequence data.” The NIH draft policy does just that: it defines the requirements for access to and use of genomic data, and sets forth the guiding ethical principles for the responsible use of such data.
The NIH draft policy states its purpose as encouraging broad sharing of genomic data, in order to facilitate important advancements in medicine, while also ensuring...
Related Articles
By Carl Zimmer, The New York Times | 06.04.2026
Scientists at Columbia University have edited the DNA of early human embryos with unprecedented accuracy, an achievement that could open the way to babies engineered with particular characteristics.
The prospect has fueled controversy for years. On the one hand, the...
By Alexandre Piquard, Le Monde [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.22.2026
"If proven to be safe, we believe preventive gene editing could be one of the most important health technologies of the century." This is how Lucas Harrington explained the goal of his company Preventive: to create genetically modified babies. Trying...
By Daniel Shanahan, Los Angeles Review of Books | 05.31.2026
This is the 15th installment in the Legacies of Eugenics series, which features essays by leading thinkers devoted to exploring the history of eugenics and the ways it shapes our present. You can read the first part here. The series...
By Sofia Resnick, Stateline | 05.20.2026
An anti-abortion group last month sued seven Utah fertility clinics, claiming their disposal of embryos as part of the in vitro fertilization process violates the state’s wrongful death law.
The ministry Voice for the Voiceless believes it has a strong...