Ethical publication of research on genetics and genomics of biological material: guidelines and recommendations

Maria Eugenia D'Amato; Martin Bodner; John M Butler; Leonor Gusmão; Adrian Linacre; Walther Parson; Peter M Schneider; Peter Vallone; Angel Carracedo

doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2020.102299

Ethical publication of research on genetics and genomics of biological material: guidelines and recommendations

Forensic Sci Int Genet. 2020 Sep:48:102299. doi: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2020.102299. Epub 2020 May 12.

Authors

Maria Eugenia D'Amato¹, Martin Bodner², John M Butler³, Leonor Gusmão⁴, Adrian Linacre⁵, Walther Parson⁶, Peter M Schneider⁷, Peter Vallone³, Angel Carracedo⁸

Affiliations

¹ Forensic DNA Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Electronic address: medamato@uwc.ac.za.
² Institute of Legal Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
³ National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
⁴ DNA Diagnostic Laboratory, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁵ Flinders University, College of Science & Engineering, Adelaide, Australia.
⁶ Institute of Legal Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria; Forensic Science Program, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁷ Institute of Legal Medicine, University Clinic and Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
⁸ Institute of Forensic Sciences, Genomic Medicine Group-CIBERER, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

PMID: 32414696
DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2020.102299

Abstract

Forensic Science International: Genetics and Forensic Science International: Reports communicate research on a variety of biological materials using genetics and genomic methods. Numerous guidelines have been produced to secure standardization and quality of results of scientific investigations. Yet, no specific guidelines have been produced for the ethical acquisition of such data. These guidelines summarize universally adopted principles for conducting ethical research on biological materials, and provide details of the general procedures for conducting ethical research on materials of human, animal, plant and environmental origin. Finally, the minimal ethics requirements for submission of research material are presented.

Keywords: Forensics; Genetics; Genomics; Research ethics.

MeSH terms

Animal Experimentation / ethics
Animal Experimentation / legislation & jurisprudence
Animals
Biological Specimen Banks / ethics
Biological Specimen Banks / legislation & jurisprudence
DNA, Environmental
Ethics, Research*
Genetics*
Guidelines as Topic*
Humans
Periodicals as Topic*
Publishing / ethics*

Substances

DNA, Environmental