Advances in biomedical sciences have the potential to help societies achieve important moral goals, including equality of opportunity, reproductive freedom, healthy aging, and the prevention and treatment of disease. However, technological progressions such as genetic screening, gene therapy and genome editing also raise a host of ethical questions. Is the idea of 'genetically engineering' humans a morally objectionable form of 'eugenics'? Should parents undergoing IVF be permitted to screen embryos for the sex of their offspring prior to implantation? Would it be ethical to alter the rate at which humans age, when doing so would increase the number of years we can expect to live on a warming planet with a population exceeding seven billion people?
Genetic Ethics: An Introduction addresses these and other pressing concerns. Colin Farrelly encourages readers to think rationally and cogently about the ethical and societal challenges raised by the 'genetic revolution'. The chapters include discussions of eugenics, infectious and chronic disease, evolutionary biology, epigenetics, happiness, reproductive freedom and longevity. Farrelly deftly weaves together the work of philosophers such as Habermas, Sandel, Savulescu and others, whilst also offering an original and engaging moral analysis.
Accessible in tone and compellingly argued, this book is an ideal introduction for students of bioethics, applied ethics, biomedical sciences, and related courses in philosophy and life sciences.
