Other provisions make plain what measures might be appropriate. How to register disapproval has divided Western geneticists. The U.K.'s Genetical Society, mindful of past abuses ranging from compulsory sterilizations in North America to genocide elsewhere, has decided to boycott the 1998 International Congress of Genetics in Beijing. Moreover, an international group of human geneticists, with the support of some Chinese scientists, last fall urged the government of China to delay implementing the law until geneticists have discussed the issues. Some additional societies have also expressed concern, and the American Society of Human Genetics is studying the questions raised.
Opinions vary on the value of scientific ostracism.
Some say a semiboycott by scientists helped to end apartheid in South Africa. Others counter that a boycott of the International Congress of Genetics in Moscow in 1978 achieved nothing. In any event, the protests over China's eugenics law have not affected commerce. The French biotechnology company Genset is launching a joint venture with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences to carry out surveys in China for genes contributing to common diseases. Genset will use what it learns to develop novel therapies.