Margaret Sleeboom-Faulkner, ed. 2008. Human genetic biobanks in Asia: Politics of trust and scientific advancement

Abstract

Biobanking has been broadly discussed in bioethics in the past few years, especially in Europe. There is still more to say on the topic, especially on how social factors affect policy-making in different countries. This edited volume includes ten papers examining genetic bio banking and its regulation in several Asian countries, including Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India and Indonesia. The authors examine how cultural, socio-political and economic factors influence regulations that govern human genetic biobanks, and the ethical sensitivities surrounding biobanks in these countries. An interesting approach of the book is how it focuses on discourses of trust in national and international perspectives. Issues of genetic piracy, public goods, concepts of genetic theft and exploitation, and genetic wealth and trust are raised. This volume contains case studies of biobanking practices in societies with different needs and welfare levels, and provides insights into government strategies towards genetic resources by examining bioethics in the selected countries. The reflections are useful also for scholars in many other countries, as the related ethical principles and social interpretation of them cross many false borders that comparative bioethics has often simplified. The first paper is a general overview: “Introduction: Human Genetic Biobanking in Asia: Issues of Trust, Wealth and Ambition”, by the book’s editor, Margaret Sleeboom-Faulkner. Sleeboom-Faulkner has researched the issues for a decade in the region, and presents in the overview a number of critical issues from the perspective of an anthropologist. Part one of the book is “Biobanking in Welfare Societies”, and includes the papers “Public Trust, Commercialisation, and Benefit Sharing: Towards a Trustworthy Biobank in Taiwan”, by Hung-En Liu and Terence Hua Tai; “Biobanks in Japan: Ethics, Guidelines and Practice”, by Gerard Porter; “Trust and the Creation of Biobanks: Biobanking in Japan and the UK” by Tohru Masui; “Should We Invest in Biobanking in Hong Kong? Using Biobanking for Dyslexic Studies in Hong Kong as an Example” by Mary Miu Yee Waye and Connie Ho. These chapters also examine how the public can be convinced (or not) of the promise of the human research Bioethical Inquiry (2010) 7:259–260 DOI 10.1007/s11673-010-9234-6