About the Book
The Human Genome Project, discoveries in molecular biology and new reproductive technologies have advanced our understanding of how genetic science may be used to treat persons with genetic disorders. Greater knowledge may also make possible genetic interventions to "enhance" normal human characteristics, such as height, hair or eye colour, strength, or memory, as well as the transmittal of such modifications to future generations. The prospect of inheritable genetic modifications, or IGMs, whether for therapeutic or enhancement purposes, raises complex scientific, ethical and regulatory issues. This volume presents 20 essays by physicians, scientists, philosophers, theologians, lawyers and policy analysts addressing these issues from diverse perspectives. In three sections, the authors discuss the short- and long-term scientific feasibility of IGM technology; ethical and religious issues related to safety, justice, morality, reproductive rights, and enhancement; and regulatory issues including the necessity of public input and oversight and the influence of commercialization.
Their goal is to open a dialogue engaging not only scholars and scientists but also government officials and concerned citizens. The authors conclude that while IGM cannot be carried out safely and responsibly on humans utilizing current methods, it is important to begin public discussion now to determine whether, and if so how, to proceed.
Table of Contents:
Framing the issues, Audrey R. Chapman and Mark S. Frankel; Germ line dancing - definitional considerations for policy makers, Eric Juengst and Erik Parens; Approaches to gene transfer to the mammalian germ line, Theodore Friedmann; Scientific methodologies to facilitate inheritable genetic modifications in humans, Bhavani Pathak; Germ-line modification in clinical medicine - is there a case for intentional or unintended germ-line changes?, R. Michael Blaese; Gene repair, genomics, and human germ-line modification, Kenneth Culver; Germ-line gene therapy - can we do it, do we need it, where do we start, and where might it lead?, Christopher H. Evans; The moral impasse in human embryo research - bypasses in the making?, John Fletcher; Justice implications of inheritable genetic modifications, Audrey R. Chapman; The hidden eugenic potential of germ-line interventions, Troy Duster; Ethical differences between inheritable genetic modification and embryo selection, Bonnie Steinbock; Human limits - theological perspectives on germ-line modification, Ronald Cole-Turner; The Catholic Church's moral tradition and germ-line intervention, Albert Moraczewski; Uncountable as the stars - inheritable genetic intervention and the human future, a Jewish perspective, Laurie Zoloth-Dorfman; Parental liberty and the right of access to germ-line intervention - a theological appraisal of parental power, Sondra Wheeler; Inheritable genetic modifications - do we owe them to our children?, Pilar N. Ossorio; National policies to oversee inheritable genetic modifications research, Julie Gage-Palmer and Robert Cook-Deegan; Designing tomorrow's children - the right to reproduce and oversight of germ-line interventions, Cynthia Cohen; To market, to market - effects of commerce on cross-generational genetic change, Mark S. Frankel and Michele S. Garfinkel; Recommendations for policy, Mark S. Frankel and Audrey R. Chapman. Appendices: Consent form for participation in a study of inheritable germ-line modification, Julie Gage-Palmer; AAAS report on IGM - major findings, concerns, and recommendations.
About the Author :
Audrey R. Chapman is director of the Science and Human Rights Program and senior associate for ethics in the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Mark S. Frankel is the director of the Scientific Freedom, Responsibility, and Law Program at American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Review :
With so much heat and little light often shed on the debates around developments in human genetic engineering, this collection of 20 essays is much overdue, and tremendously informative.
Essential reading for any serious student of either germline gene therapy, or, as the authors have chosen to expand the category, 'inheritable genetic modification' (IGM).
The text provides an up-to-date critical analysis of the possible impact of future developments in inheritable genetic modification . . . The book provides perspectives from a wide range of academic disciplines—scientific, sociological, philosophical, theological, law and policy . . . It is both informative and very scholarly, recommended as a text for professionals in bioethics, genetics policy and a valuable source book for research.
