The Ethics of Inheritable Genetic Modification: A Dividing Line?

by Edited by John Rasko , Gabrielle O'Sullivan , Rachel Ankeny

• ISBN13: 9780521822770
• ISBN10: 0521822777
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-20
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Is inheritable genetic modification the new dividing line in gene therapy? The editors of this searching investigation, representing clinical medicine, public health and biomedical ethics, have established a distinguished team of scientists and scholars to address the issues from the perspectives of biological and social science, law and ethics, including an intriguing Foreword from Peter Singer. Their purpose is to consider how society might deal with the ethical concerns raised by inheritable genetic modification, and to re-examine prevailing views about whether these procedures will ever be ethically and socially justifiable. The book also provides background to define the field, and discusses the biological and technological potential for inheritable genetic modification, its limitations, and its connection with gene therapy, cloning, and other reproductive interventions. For scientists, bioethicists, clinicians, counsellors and public commentators, this is an essential contribution to one of the critical debates in current genetics.

Table of Contents

List of contributors	ix
Foreword: shopping at the genetic supermarket	xiii
Peter Singer
List of abbreviations	xxxiii
Acknowledgments	xxxv
1 Is inheritable genetic modification the new dividing line?	1	(16)
John E.J. Rasko, Gabrielle M. O'Sullivan, and Rachel A. Ankeny
2 The science of inheritable genetic modification	17	(18)
John E.J. Rasko and Douglas J. Jolly
3 Nuclear cloning, embryonic stem cells, and gene transfer	35	(22)
Rudolf Jaenisch
4 Controlling bodies and creating monsters: popular perceptions of genetic modifications	57	(20)
Christoph Rehmann-Sutter
5 Inheritable genetic modification as moral responsibility in a creative universe	77	(26)
Denis Kenny
6 Ethics and welfare issues in animal genetic modification	103	(28)
Gabrielle M. O'Sullivan
7 Radical rupture: exploring biologic sequelae of volitional inheritable genetic modification	131	(18)
Francoise Baylis and Jason Scott Robert
8 "Alter-ing" the human species? Misplaced essentialism in science policy	149	(10)
Eric T. Juengst
9 Traditional and feminist bioethical perspectives on gene transfer: is inheritable genetic modification really the problem?	159	(16)
Rosemarie Tong
10 Inheritable genetic modification and disability: normality and identity	175	(18)
Jackie Leach Scully
11 Regulating inheritable genetic modification, or policing the fertile scientific imagination? A feminist legal response	193	(30)
Isabel Karpin and Roxanne Mykitiuk
12 Inheritable genetic modification: clinical applications and genetic counseling considerations	223	(20)
Joan A. Scott
13 Can bioethics speak to politics about the prospect of inheritable genetic modification? If so, what might it say?	243	(36)
Roberta M. Berry
Glossary of scientific terms	279	(24)
John E. J. Rasko, Gabrielle M. O'Sullivan, and Rachel A. Ankeny
Index	303