Leading European experts in the field of genetics have been getting to grips with its ethical impact, particularly in the field of insurance. Peter Propping is a genetecist at the University of Bonn, and a member of the Reference Centre for Ethics in Life Sciences. And Angus MacDonald from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, founded the Research Centre for Genetics and Insurance in 1999. They were part of a major symposium in Strasbourg including representatives from the insurance industry, customers and patients from the 47 member countries of the Council of Europe.

So, how much access should insurance companies be allowed to this sensitive information, if it could influence decisions about potential policyholders? In this edition of Agora, two experts discuss the ethical problems surrounding the rights of patients.

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