Genetic Information

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Eugenics

   1. Can We Learn From Eugenics?

      • Daniel Wikler

      Pages 1-16

   2. Preventing Genetic Impairments

      • Helga Kuhse

      Pages 17-30

3. Genetics and Insurance

   1. Private Parties, Public Duties?

      • Trudo Lemmens

      Pages 31-39

   2. Coercion, Control, and Consequence in Genetic Testing

      • Robert N. Mayer, Ken R. Smith, Cathleen D. Zick, Jeffrey R. Botkin

      Pages 41-56

   3. Genetic Testing and Adverse Selection in the Market for Life Insurance

      • Ken R. Smith, Cathleen D. Zick, Robert N. Mayer, Jeffrey R. Botkin

      Pages 57-70

   4. Genetic Engineering and German Health Insurances

      • Thomas Uhlemann

      Pages 71-78

   5. Selling Souls

      • Martin Johnston

      Pages 79-84

4. The Commercialization of Genetic Information

   1. The Ethics of 21st Century Bioinformatics

      • Dick Holdsworth

      Pages 85-96

   2. There is Nothing Special about Genetic Information

      • Søren Holm

      Pages 97-103

   3. High Speed Genetic Testing Technology and the Computerization of the Medical Record

      • Curtis R. Naser

      Pages 105-120

   4. Ethical Questions in the Pursuit of Genetic Information

      • Susan Sherwin, Christy Simpson

      Pages 121-128

   5. The Ethics of Gene Patenting

      • Ruth Macklin

      Pages 129-137

   6. Paradigms of Author/Creator Property Rights in Intellectual Property Law

      • Robin Mackenzie

      Pages 139-148

   7. Regulating the Commercialization of Human Genetics

      • Timothy Caulfield

      Pages 149-161

   8. Ethical Impacts of Human Health-Related Biotechnology in Brazil

      • Marilia Bernardes Marques

      Pages 163-174

5. Public Awareness

   1. Adolescents and Carrier Testing

      • Kris Dierickx

      Pages 175-182

   2. Down’s Syndrome Screening

      • Ros Bramwell, Susan Wade

      Pages 183-190

   3. Public Perspectives of the New Genetics

      • Rachel Iredale, Marcus Longley

      Pages 191-199

   4. Genetics and Journalism

      • Joan Stephenson

      Pages 201-205

It is difficult to think of an example of an advancement in the biological sciences that has had an impact on society similar to that of the new genetics. Recent developments in biotechnology have occasioned much discussion among academics, professionals, and lay people alike. In particular, many questions and concerns have arisen over the acquisi­ tion, access, and control of genetic information. There are several reasons why the new genetics has commanded such widespread attention, and why it is now the subject of con­ siderable debate. Special reference is given in this volume to the implications of genetic information for five different subject areas: eugenics, the insurance industry, the commer­ cialisation of genetic testing, strategies for raising public awareness, and the value of theo­ retical ethical and sociological frameworks in the debate. This diverse collection of papers attempts to address and critically discuss issues surrounding the control of, and access to, genetic information from ethical, medical, legal, and theoretical points of view. The first and shortest section of the book attempts to address concerns over the eugenic potential of new biotechnologies. It also provides a historical context for the de­ bate, for controversy over the subject of eugenics predates the current debate over genetic information by a considerable length of time. Indeed, by the time the first patent was is­ sued for Chakrabarty's strain of oil eating bacteria in the early 1970s, the term eugenics had already acquired strong pejorative connotations.

• Eugenics
• bioinformatics
• ethics
• gene therapy
• genes
• genetics
• health
• screening

• University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

  Alison K. Thompson

• University of Central Lancashire Preston, UK

  Ruth F. Chadwick

Policies and ethics