David Bourn, Ph.D., FRCPath, is a UK-based state registered clinical scientist and the head of an NHS Regional Genetics laboratory, who has worked in the NHS for more than 25 years. Prior to his involvement in diagnostic genetics, he spent some years in research, with his Ph.D. and the bulk of his postdoctoral work in the field of human molecular genetics. His links with Human Genetics Departments go back to the 1980s and in addition to his familiarity with the evolution of genetic testing over the past three decades, he has an enduring interest in the wider implications of this testing.