The teaching of human genetics in schools.

Most genetic counsellors stress the importance of ensuring that persons being counselled have an understanding of the facts and make their decisions on an informed basis. However, the extent to which this is achieved varies considerably and where clients' knowledge of the disease and the inheritance pattern has been assessed it is clear that many ofthem fail to assimilate and recall even simple facts related to their disorder. Most clinics have experience of persons who know nothing ofgenes or chromosomes, are unfamiliar with the concept of cell division, and yet may have to grapple with difficult ethical and moral decisions about their reproductive lives. In such circumstances the counsellor and counsellee face a formidable task and ensuring a basic understanding of simple biological mechanisms may be extremely difficult. As might have been anticipated, several studies have demonstrated the value of previous education in biology as an important determinant of the client's attainment of genetic knowledge in the counselling clinic.' Leonard et al,2 in their investigation of 78 couples who had a child with one of four disorders, further confirmed that in addition to improving their understanding of the problem, the parents' knowledge of biology also helped in their grasp of probability. These and other findings, coupled with the increasing complexity of the decisions facing those with genetic disease, have prompted a number of professionals in medicine and education to recommend that human biology and genetics should receive greater attention in the classroom. Scriver et al,3 in their study of 930 high school students in Canada, confirmed that young people also had a strong preference for more and earlier teaching of these subjects. In the present education system in England, pupils normally do not commence their study of biology until they start secondary education at the age of 11 years. In primary school (aged 5 to 11 years) they have lessons on nature study or exploratory science,