Berlin, Germany: Calling it “cannibalism”, German officials expressed opposition to a measure passed by the British House of Commons, permitting the cloning of human embryos. Under the new law, British researchers can keep the embryos alive for 14 days to extract stem cells. Human reproductive cloning is still illegal. The officials claim that the law breaks prior ethical understandings prevalent in the European Community. The European Parliament is considering legislation covering stem cell extraction.

     Jerusalem, Israel: The Knesset has approved a genetic information law to regulate genetic testing. The new law requires prior informed consent and controls access to genetic information.. With fines and imprisonment, sanctions are expected to prevent employment or insurance discrimination.

     Montgomery County, MD: This suburb of Washington, DC, a center of government and private sector genetic research, as well as a bedroom for the nation’s capital, became the first municipality to ban employment or promotion discrimination based upon an employee’s genetic susceptibility to disease. Information from both blood tests and family histories are covered.

     London,UK: The Genetics and Insurance Committee of the Health Ministry approved two genetic tests for Huntington’s Disease. The Association of British Insurers says that applicants for life insurance will not be forced to take the tests, but if they do the test result can be used to decide coverage or premium rates. Tests for Alzheimer's Disease and breast cancer may also be submitted for approval.

     Washington, DC: Peer pressure on genetic researchers to protect research subjects in gene therapy experiments was increased by FDA measures to require submission of protection monitoring plans, and quarterly FDA-NIH meetings for discussion of safety reports. The Biotechnology Industry Association said it supports the initiatives, but critics are skeptical about whether critical information on “adverse events “ would be released, since these may legally be trade secrets, details of which have a competitive value in the highly competitive industry.

     Greg Koski, Director of the newly upgraded Office for Human Research Protections in the Department of Health and Human Services. praised the American Society of Gene Therapy for setting a new conflict-of-interest standard: researchers should be free of significant financial invol vement with companies who sponsor their research.

     Osasco, Brazil: Fernanda Giannasi, a labor inspector who co-founded an asbestos victims group here, successfully spearheaded an asbestos ban in this former asbestos manufacturing center near Sao Paulo. European-owned plants closed, leaving former workers in need of medical care and wage replacement. The ban followed an international conference held here in September attended by more than 400 activists from 32 countries, according to Barry Castleman.