Ethical and practical implications of returning genetic research results: two Australian case studies

The NHMRC National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research requires Australian 8 researchers to consider returning ‘medically-actionable’ genetic research on ethical 9 grounds. However, whether results should be returned on the basis of health implications 10 for family members (beyond the original participant) is less clear. This is a critical question, 11 given DNA is shared across families. Some large Australian community-based studies, such 12 as the Lifepool study, have already demonstrated the acceptability of offering genetic 13 results to participants and family members for cancer prevention. Here, we consider 14 whether this approach may be appropriate for other epidemiological studies.