Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 2014, Vol. 9(3) 56–58 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1556264614540595 jre.sagepub.com Tissue and Data Banking High throughput techniques for genomic sequencing create vast amounts of genetic data that may give rise to new med- ical, ethical, legal, and social issues. Social scientists have previously carried out research with lay people and research participants (Godard, Marshall, & Laberge, 2007; Henderson et al., 2008; Hoeyer, Olofsson, Mjorndal, & Lynoe, 2004; Kaufman, Murphy, Scott, & Hudson, 2008) about their attitudes toward these new techniques and their implications for various aspects of life. Very little research has been reported regarding the attitudes of the researchers who were actually carrying out the sequencing. There has been some exploration of scientists’ opinions regarding whole genome sequencing but it has often been directed toward specific issues such as the return of research results (Grove, Wolpert, Cho, Lee, & Ormond, 2013; Meulenkamp, Gevers, Bovenberg, & Smets, 2012; Knoppers, Joly, Simard, & Durocher, 2006; Miller et al., 2012b) and their opinions about ethical review of their research (Edwards et al., 2011; Edwards et al., 2012; Whiteley, Kanellopoulou, & Kaye, 2012). Their opinions about having their own genome sequenced have not been widely discussed or reported thus far apart from some high profile scientists such as Craig Venter (Ledford, 2007) and James Watson (Check, 2007). To investigate attitudes toward these issues among the people actually generating, managing, and analyzing such data, we devised a pilot study, under the auspices of the European project GEUVADIS, a coordination action that is looking at Genetic European Variation in Disease. A questionnaire was compiled and distributed among the par- ticipating scientists. We also carried out some discussion groups to explore the ethical and social issues that the scien- tists themselves felt were important or relevant (66 ques- tionnaires and five discussion groups). The attached article describes these processes in greater detail. The issues explored included source of samples, type of consent, involvement of family, data protection, communication of results, and the right to withdraw. Preliminary results demonstrate a wide range of attitudes toward genetic information and personal data, ranging from highly protective to favoring widespread sharing through databases. The most important issues for the scientists were the provision of clear and transparent information for research participants about the research and the various uses of their data. There has also been much discussion about whether a whole genome sequence is always identifiable even if it is not linked to other personal demographic data and whether it is possible to anonymize such data entirely (Gymrek, McGuire, Golan, Halperin, & Erlich, 2013; Lowrance & 540595JRE XX X 10.1177/1556264614540595Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research EthicsMiller et al. research-article 2014 1 Inserm and University of Toulouse, France 2 Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain Corresponding Author: Jane Miller, Inserm and University of Toulouse 3, Paul Sabatier, UMR 1027, 37 allées Jules Guesde, F-31000 Toulouse, France. Email: Jmillerg73@gmail.com Professionals’ Attitudes Regarding Large- Scale Genetic Information Generated Through Next Generation Sequencing in Research: A Pilot Study Jane Miller 1 , Alexandra Soulier 1 , Gabrielle Bertier 2 , and Anne Cambon-Thomsen 1 Abstract Under the auspices of a multi-national European scientific project involving whole genome sequencing, GEUVADIS, we set out to investigate the attitudes of the participating scientists of having their own genome sequenced. The views of such researchers on this subject have not been fully explored before and we utilized questionnaires and discussion groups to elicit their opinions. Many said that it was the first time that they had an opportunity to discuss ethical and social issues about sequencing. The many ongoing multi-national science projects present a good opportunity for social science research involving scientists and would benefit from rigorous research methodology, taking into account any language barriers. Keywords whole genome sequencing, attitudes, scientists, researchers, ethics