【详细解释】 HGC was established following a comprehensive review in May 1999 by the UK Government of the regulatory and advisory framework for biotechnology. This concluded that the system for regulating individual products and processes operated satisfactorily but the advisory framework needed to: be more transparent, in order to gain public and professional confidence; be more streamlined, in order to avoid gaps, overlaps and fragmentation; ensure capacity to deal with rapid developments, and to take broad social and ethical issues fully into account. HGC have taken forward these issues in the field of human genetics. The Foods Standards Agency (FSA) has similar responsibilities for GM foods, and the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) have responsibility for all other areas of biotechnology.
As part of streamlining the framework, three advisory human genetics committees were wound up and their responsibilities passed to HGC. These groups were Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing, the Advisory Group on Scientific Advances in Genetics and the Human Genetics Advisory Commission