Gene Mapping: Using Law and Ethics as Guides - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195073037 ISBN 13: 9780195073034

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1992

Synopsis

This pathfinding book thoroughly identifies and explores the legal and ethical dimensions of the new genetics and the Human Genome Project. While accepting the goals of modern genetics research, the book takes a critical approach to the Human Genome Project. More precise genetic information will likely result in genetic discrimination, and will threaten genetic privacy in employment and insurance. The way we view disease, normalcy and our own humanness will undergo significant change as clinical medicine becomes increasingly genetics-based. We are more than our genes, but mapping them will move society into "genetics territory," and we may act as if our genes determine our destiny.
This timely work brings together a group of the nation's leading experts in genetics, medicine, history of science, health law, philosophy of science, and medical ethics to assess the current state of modern human genetics, and to begin to chart the legal and ethical guidelines needed to prevent the misuse of human genetics from leading to the abuse of human beings. The six sections of the book, read together, map the social policy contours of modern human genetics. The first part describes the science of the Human Genome Project. The second addresses specific social policy implications, including the relevance of the recombinant DNA history, the eugenics legacy, military applications, and issues of race and class in the context of genetic discrimination. Broader philosophical issues, including reductionism and determinism, the concept of disease, and using germline gene therapy to "improve" human beings are discussed in the third part. The fourth is directed at the clinical implications of the new genetics, including privacy and confidentiality, genetic screening and counseling. The fifth part focuses on the legal and ethical frontiers in genetics, especially procreative liberty, patent issues, and regulatory mechanisms. Finally, a prioritized social policy research agenda is presented which suggests that immediate emphasis be on: 1) determining the rules for introducing a new genetic test into medical practice; 2) protecting the confidentiality and privacy of an individual's genetic formation; 3) preventing employment and insurance discrimination based on genetics; and 4) exploring how the new genetics will affect our concepts of "disease", "normalcy," and "humanness."

About this title

About the Author

George J. Annas, Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law, Boston University. Sherman Elias, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tennessee.

Review

"The chapters, written by philosophers, lawyers, historians and clinicians, examine the vast array of problems raised by this much discussed scientific behavior. The essays are excellent, the authors stellar." --Nature

"The contributors examine genetic discrimination in light of race and class issues, the history of misuse of genetic information, and how policies may affect our concepts of disease." --Hastings Center Report

"The editors and contributors are experts; their writing is clear, and undergraduates should be able to understand it without difficulty." --Choice

"Much of it is written in a low key, critical, and scholarly fashion, avoiding the more sensationalist approach that mars so many books of this kind. For this reason I strongly recommend it."--D.J. Weatherall, writing in British Medical Journal

"Collection of insightful essays....The editors' introductory and concluding chapters are quite effective in bringing together both the philosophical and the more practical levels of analysis....Gene Mapping successfully raises numerous provocative issues and questions."--Bio/Technology

"The authors have brought together an impressive team of contributors to asses the current state of modern human genetics. This book makes the subject accessible to the general reader." --European Medical Journal

"Contributions are of high quality. There is relaitively little overlap, and several chapters are gems. I recommend this volume to readers. The editors secured contributions from people who have devoted much energy to studying genetics in a larger context. On the whole these manuscripts are of
the quality one would demand." -- American Journal of Human Genetics

"Should be read by all involved in, or interested in, human genome research. Of the books that have arisen from within the genome research community to address these many issues, this is the most challenging and authoritative that I have read." --Trends in Genetics

"Excellent collection of essays....This volume takes the reader through all the main ethical aspects of the project to map the human genome....Will be of considerable value to all who are working in this area." --Ruth F. Chadwick, University of Central Lancashire, Journal of Medical
Ethics

"The authors have brought together an impressive team of contributors to assess the current state of modern human genetics. This book makes the subject accessible to the general reader." --European Medical Journal

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0195073037
• ISBN 13: 9780195073034
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 10
• Editor: Annas George J., Elias Sherman