Online medical genetics resources: a UK perspective

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Abstract
Health professionals, patients, and the general public need authoritative, up to date information on genetics to enable them to understand and apply advances in this discipline. The immediacy and accessibility of the world wide web make it the perfect vehicle for this information. Identifying high quality resources tailored to the requirements of particular users among the vast number of sites is not easy. We have compiled a list of useful web resources from the perspective of users based in the United Kingdom. #### Summary points Several websites provide information for geneticists on genetic disease, genetic services, and professional training Two UK sites act as gateways to information on specific diseases and support groups, suitable for patients and their carers Public health professionals and policymakers are well served by sites maintained by the Department of Health and the NHS Good web based information on genetics for general practitioners and non-geneticist clinicians is lacking Ethical, legal, and social issues in genetics are covered in sites maintained by national and international regulatory bodies in bioethics We selected sites on the basis of those used most often by our colleagues in different specialist areas of genetics. This article represents a consensus of their views. Sites are grouped by their major user communities; there is overlap, but the contents of the site give a good indication of those with wider relevance. We have also included both national and international online resources for bioethics. OMIM—Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Omim) is the “Bible” for all geneticists. The site contains constantly updated information on over 12 000 genetic diseases, their symptoms, inheritance patterns, and associated genetic loci (where known). It is easy to search and is now linked to the National Center for Biotechnology Information's “Entrez” system, so that it can be queried in the same way as other resources …

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