The British government has pledged £50 million (€72 million) for genetic research in healthcare and said it would make obtaining a person's DNA without their consent a crime.
Health Secretary Dr John Reid stressed he would always weigh up ethical concerns that the science produces but said he wanted Britain's health service to lead the world in the safe use of genetic technologies.
Dr Reid said the money would be earmarked for new research into "genetics knowledge and provision within the National Health Service.
"We are standing on the threshold of a revolution inhealthcare," he told the House of Commons. "Increasing understanding of genetics will bring moreaccurate diagnosis, more personalised prediction of risk, new gene-based drugs and therapies and better targeted prevention and treatment".
In time, that could allow early assessment of the risk to individuals posed by the country's biggest killers - heart disease and cancer, he added.
Dr Reid acknowledged fears the new technology could create a genetic superclass and a parallel underclass of the "unwell and uninsurable".
But he promised the government would not allowanybody to be unfairly discriminated against on the basis of their genetic make-up.
Dr Reid said the government would legislate tomake "DNA theft" a criminal offence. Taking a strand of hair is enough to allow a person's genetic make-up to be tested without their consent.