Govt Urged To Regulate Gene Testing Of Children

The Democratic Party’s Ramon Yuen has called on health officials to regulate gene testing in Hong Kong, after reports emerged that some firms are making claims that they can predict the abilities of children.

Yuen said the firms should be made to provide related information on the limitations of such testing to consumers and make their conduct transparent.

This comes after an investigation by the party found eight gene testing firms exaggerated claims that they were able to identify children's abilities. Two of the companies even claimed they were able to analyse intelligence and strengths in children through oral or blood samples, with an accuracy of 99 percent.

Yuen said he will be filing a complaint to see if the firms have violated the Trade Descriptions Ordinance by keeping important information from its customers.

He said he will also complain to Chinese University as one of its professors has identified himself as being linked to such a company. The Medical Council will also look into the matter, he said.

But Yuen said instead of bringing in laws to control the firms, it would be better to have guidelines to increase transparency in the gene testing sector.

He told RTHK's Janice Wong that such regulations should be arrived at through discussions between various parties.