As China's medical geneticists move to exploit the unique resource offered by the country's isolated, genetically homogeneous populations (see p10), there should be opportunities for fruitful collaborations with researchers from abroad. But such collaborations are still difficult. On the Chinese side, geneticists are concerned at becoming little more than 'sample vendors' for their foreign partners. Many Western geneticists, meanwhile, remain uneasy about China's flirtation with eugenics.

In 1997, China's Premier, Jiang Zemin, threw medical genetics into the spotlight by commenting publicly on the country's genetic heritage. “One without foresight will encounter sudden doom,” he said. “We must treasure our genetic resources.” At the time, several projects had raised concerns about whether China's genetic resources were being plundered by visiting scientists. This led to formation of the Human Genetic Resources Administration of China, which must now approve any research using human samples for genetic studies.

The administration's guidelines state that, among other conditions, both sides of any international collaboration will share in resultant intellectual property. But opinions are divided on whether the potential for abuse has been removed. “The guidelines are clear, and 90% of international projects are approved,” says Zhu Chen, director of the Chinese National Human Genome Center in Shanghai. But Huanming Yang, director of the Beijing Genomics Institute, is unconvinced. “Regulations are still too loose,” he says.

Geneticists visiting China sometimes have doubts about the quality of their collaborators' family pedigrees and samples. “People will say they're related to anyone if they think they can get free medical treatment or some money by participating,” says one Chinese biotechnology veteran. Some Western researchers also question the accuracy of clinical diagnoses. “I would guess schizophrenia diagnosis in a totalitarian country would be far from reliable,” says one US-based geneticist.

The political climate in China also raises deeper ethical concerns. Many geneticists were appalled when, in 1995, the Chinese government introduced the 'Mother and Infant Health Care Law'. This required couples planning marriage to undergo genetic screening, and included provisions to encourage sterilization of those found to be carrying disease genes.

In protest, many geneticists threatened to boycott the International Congress of Genetics, held in Beijing in 1998. Although the controversy was partly defused by a government promise to rewrite the law, the changes have yet to be made. Last December, the Ethical, Legal and Social Issues Committee of the Chinese Human Genome Project renewed its call for the promise to be acted upon.