Aims

• Workshops to bring together interested historians and scientists - three workshops have already been held, the first in Birmingham (2003), the second in Brno (2005), the third in Barcelona (2008), as a satellite meeting of European Society of Human Genetics, helping to establish valuable links. The fourth workshop has just been held in Gothenburg (2010) with the support of the Wellcome Trust and ESHG. 

• Encouragement of academic departments of history of science and medicine to become interested and undertake in depth analyses - detailed studies need historical and social science skills, but unless the original documentation and foundations are preserved, historians may have inadequate facts to draw on. The main UK web-side Medhist currently has only a few entries related to human genetics.

• Genetics and the wider public - most people are interested in genetics and many have concerns about its uses in medicine and elsewhere. Full documentation of historical aspects is an essential part of understanding, even though some of this may be disturbing.

• Particularly important or controversial events - for example, genetics and medicine in the USSR and Nazi Germany.

• Interviews with key figures - Oral History - an urgent activity since many are frail and most elderly. Programmes are underway in both Europe and America.

• Location of record collections of important centres, Professional Societies and workers - many such collections exist, but do people know where and how to access them? For the UK, a web based inventory of important collections is being developed with support from the Wellcome Trust.

• Archiving of records of key workers in human and medical genetics- link to records.

• Historical documentation of specific genetic disorders - considerable work has already been done on this, but few of the early publications are accessible.

• Scientific and more general images related to human and medical genetics - The Wellcome Trust Photographic Library is an important resource and network and contact has already been established. Members could make valuable contributions to it. Our own website is also beginning to feature important images.

Not all of the aims listed here need to be carried out by the Network itself; indeed it would be impossible and probably inadvisable to do so. However, the network can act as a powerful stimulus to higlight the importance and urgency of particular activities, and should help to co-ordinate projects between interested individuals and centres.