SYDNEY, Australia (November 28, 2000 - Australia-Pacific Affairs)---The Tongan government recently reached a controversial DNA commercialization deal with biotechnology company Autogen to collect blood samples from Tongan nationals. The samples will be analyzed and used for identifying genes predisposed to medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart diseases. The government stands to rake in millions of pa‘anga($), which it promised to invest in a new research facility and for the employment of Tongan scientists.

Autogen is an Australian based company headed by mining magnate and finance guru Joseph Gutnick. Mr. Gutnick has been responsible for the development and operation of several major successful gold mines in Australia including the Great Central Mines Limited, Bronzewing and Jundee.

Tonga’s decision to enter the DNA commercialization project comes after much debate and controversy in Europe where two European nations, Iceland and Estonia, have been embroiled over privacy and confidentiality issues. Individual consent was not acquired in the blood collection.

Tonga’s democracy leader, Mr. Akilisi Pohiva, told Australia-Pacific Affairs that the agreement with Tonga was formally reached between Autogen and Tongan’s Health Minister, the Hon. Viliami Tangi. Mr. Pohiva claimed that the government’s embracement of the deal was ratified by Parliament even though there hasn't been any public debate on privacy and confidentiality issues.

Professor Greg Collier, Autogen’s director of research and development, told the Sydney Morning Herald recently that under the deal reached with the Tongan government, DNA samples will be collected on a voluntary basis and only through "informed consent." The DNA database will remain the property of the Tongan government, according to Professor Collier.

Another small island nation involved with DNA research development is Norfolk Island. Earlier in the year, the island government signed a similar deal with Griffith University in Australia, and according to Professor Lyn Griffiths (no blood relation) profits from the DNA program will be shared with the islanders. Unlike Tonga, which has given Autogen the exclusive right to commercialize and sell genetic information to medical researchers, there is no private company involved in the Norfolk Island DNA collection program.

The testing of DNA blood samples by insurance companies came under fire recently in Australia when the ACCC, the country’s main watchdog, prohibited insurers from carrying out compulsory testing on potential candidates for two years. The two-year gap is intended to give federal authorities an opportunity to sort out privacy and discrimination issues pertaining to genetic testing.

The benefits derived from genetic testing are mind boggling partly because the results can be analyzed almost accurately in predicting inherited diseases such as cancer and heart diseases. Tonga and Norfolk Island’s relative isolation from the rest of the world means researchers will have a better chance of detecting genes that predispose individuals to conditions such as diabetes, obesity and heart diseases.

With a small population of over 105,000, Tonga’s close family linkages are an important factor in genetic research. Its geography and population size mean results can be determined and matched with relative ease. But the one hitch that is likely to impact on Autogen’s venture into the small nation is whether it will stand by its pledge that the genes database will not be exploited and that individuals will be given an "informed consent" before samples are taken.