Reprogenetics: Law, Policy, and Ethical Issues

From the cloning of Dolly the sheep a decade ago to more recent advances in embryonic stem cell research, new genetic technologies have often spurred polemical, ill-informed debates. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the field of reproductive genetics, where difficult bioethical issues are distilled into sound bites and far-fetched claims for easy public consumption. The underlying complexities of reprogenetic research and practice are often drowned out by the noise.

In this thoughtful and informed collection, Lori P. Knowles and Gregory E. Kaebnick bring together bioethicists from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to examine the ethical and policy quandaries created by new genetic technologies. Featuring an overview of the field’s history (including lessons to be learned from eugenics), comparisons of international and domestic governmental regulations, and discussions of how the market and public opinion affect research, this book considers both the risks and the benefits of combining genetic and reproductive technologies.

Concluding with a cautionary call for increased regulation, Reprogenetics introduces fact, history, and reason into a public discussion of complex and vexing issues.

Lori P. Knowles, formerly of The Hastings Center, is an independent bioethics consultant and research associate at the University of Alberta's Health Law Institute.

Gregory E. Kaebnick is the editor of Hastings Center Report, a publication of The Hastings Center, and a coeditor of two books, Reprogenetics: Law, Policy, and Ethical Issues and Genetic Ties and the Family: The Impact of Paternity Testing on Parents and Children, both published by Johns Hopkins.