MPs highlight research benefits of genomic tests

Science and Technology Committee calls for technical standards to boost research benefits

An influential group of MPs has highlighted the potential benefits of commercial genomic testing to research, as it called on the government to review regulations for direct-to-consumer genomic testing.

In a report published on 22 June, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee argued that developing technical standards for commercial genomic tests—which are often used by the public to trace their ancestry or to test their likelihood of developing certain diseases—could make the data reliable enough to be used by researchers.