Euroscreen 2: Towards community policy on insurance, commercialization andpublic awareness

The project Euroscreen 2 has examined genetic screening and testing with pa rticular reference to implications for insurance, commercialization through marketing of genetic tests direct to the public, and issues surrounding ra ising public awareness of these and other developments in genetics, includi ng the practical experiment of a Gene Shop. This paper provides a snapshot of the three year project. The study group's work included monitoring devel opments in different European countries and exploring possibilities for reg ulation in insurance and commercialization together with public attitudes t o regulation. The success or failure of different strategies is not indepen dent of public awareness. Exploration of policy, however, also requires exa mination of fundamental concepts such as solidarity and geneticization.