Genetics and the Quality of Life

Genetics and the Quality of Life
Author: Charles Birch
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2014-05-09
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1483279022

Genetics and the Quality of Life covers the papers and report of a consultation on Genetics and the Quality of Life, held in Zurich on June 25-29, 1973, organized by the sub-unit on Church and Society of the World Council of Churches in cooperation with the Christian Medical Commission. The book focuses on the interrelation of genetics and quality of life. The selection first elaborates on genetics and moral responsibility and ethics and the new biology. Discussions focus on breakdown of values, genetically determined debility versus socially determined debility, ethical problems, and genetic inequality and moral responsibility. The text then examines ethical issues raised by eugenics, judging the social values of scientific advances, ethical problems raised by genetics, and problems raised by eugenics in Africa. Topics include the right to an adequate physical and mental endowment, genetic engineering, euphenics, constraints imposed by genetics, fertilization of human ova in vitro, and ethical questions in eugenics. The manuscript reviews findings on genetics and the quality of life, sociogenetic problems and public opinion, social and ethical problems in caring for genetically handicapped children, ethical problems in genetic counselling, and psychological issues in counselling the genetically handicapped. The selection is a dependable source of information for researchers interested in the connection of genetics and quality of life.

Creation Ethics

Creation Ethics
Author: David DeGrazia
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2012
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0190232447

The ethics of creating -- or declining to create -- human beings has been addressed in several contexts: debates over abortion and embryo research; literature on "self-creation"; and discussions of procreative rights and responsibilities, genetic engineering, and future generations. Here, for the first time, is a sustained, scholarly analysis of all of these issues -- a discussion combining breadth of topics with philosophical depth, imagination with current scientific understanding, argumentative rigor with accessibility. The overarching aim of Creation Ethics is to illuminate a broad array of issues connected with reproduction and genetics, through the lens of moral philosophy. With novel frameworks for understanding prenatal moral status and human identity, and exceptional fairness to those holding different views, David DeGrazia sheds new light on the ethics of abortion and embryo research, genetic enhancement and prenatal genetic interventions, procreation and parenting, and decisions that affect the quality of life of future generations. Along the way, he helpfully introduces personal identity theory and value theory as well as such complex topics as moral status, wrongful life, and the "nonidentity problem." The results include a subjective account of human well-being, a standard for responsible procreation and parenting, and a theoretical bridge between consequentialist and nonconsequentialist ethical theories. The upshot is a synoptic, mostly liberal vision of the ethics of creating human beings.

Assessing Genetic Risks

Assessing Genetic Risks
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 1994-01-01
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309047986

Raising hopes for disease treatment and prevention, but also the specter of discrimination and "designer genes," genetic testing is potentially one of the most socially explosive developments of our time. This book presents a current assessment of this rapidly evolving field, offering principles for actions and research and recommendations on key issues in genetic testing and screening. Advantages of early genetic knowledge are balanced with issues associated with such knowledge: availability of treatment, privacy and discrimination, personal decision-making, public health objectives, cost, and more. Among the important issues covered: Quality control in genetic testing. Appropriate roles for public agencies, private health practitioners, and laboratories. Value-neutral education and counseling for persons considering testing. Use of test results in insurance, employment, and other settings.

Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life

Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 753
Release: 2004-10-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309092116

In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.

Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment

Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2006-12-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309101964

Over the past century, we have made great strides in reducing rates of disease and enhancing people's general health. Public health measures such as sanitation, improved hygiene, and vaccines; reduced hazards in the workplace; new drugs and clinical procedures; and, more recently, a growing understanding of the human genome have each played a role in extending the duration and raising the quality of human life. But research conducted over the past few decades shows us that this progress, much of which was based on investigating one causative factor at a time—often, through a single discipline or by a narrow range of practitioners—can only go so far. Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment examines a number of well-described gene-environment interactions, reviews the state of the science in researching such interactions, and recommends priorities not only for research itself but also for its workforce, resource, and infrastructural needs.

Endurance of Life

Endurance of Life
Author: Macfarlane Burnet
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 1978-09-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521221146

An Evidence Framework for Genetic Testing

An Evidence Framework for Genetic Testing
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2017-04-21
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309453291

Advances in genetics and genomics are transforming medical practice, resulting in a dramatic growth of genetic testing in the health care system. The rapid development of new technologies, however, has also brought challenges, including the need for rigorous evaluation of the validity and utility of genetic tests, questions regarding the best ways to incorporate them into medical practice, and how to weigh their cost against potential short- and long-term benefits. As the availability of genetic tests increases so do concerns about the achievement of meaningful improvements in clinical outcomes, costs of testing, and the potential for accentuating medical care inequality. Given the rapid pace in the development of genetic tests and new testing technologies, An Evidence Framework for Genetic Testing seeks to advance the development of an adequate evidence base for genetic tests to improve patient care and treatment. Additionally, this report recommends a framework for decision-making regarding the use of genetic tests in clinical care.

Genes And Future People

Genes And Future People
Author: Walter Glannon
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2018-03-05
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0429968787

Advances in genetic technology in general and medical genetics in particular will enable us to intervene in the process of human biological development which extends from zygotes and embryos to people. This will allow us to control to a great extent the identities and the length and quality of the lives of people who already exist, as well as those we bring into existence in the near and distant future. Genes and Future People explores two general philosophical questions, one metaphysical, the other moral: (1) How do genes, and different forms of genetic intervention (gene therapy, genetic enhancement, presymptomatic genetic testing of adults, genetic testing of preimplantation embryos), affect the identities of the people who already exist and those we bring into existence? and (2) How do these interventions benefit or harm the people we cause to exist in the near future and those who will exist in the distant future by satisfying or defeating their interest in having reasonably long and disease-free lives?Genes and Future People begins by explaining the connection between genes and disease, placing genetic within a framework of evolutionary biology. It then discusses such topics as how genes and genetic intervention influence personal identity, what genetic testing of individuals and the knowledge resulting from it entails about responsibility to others who may be at risk, as well as how gene therapy and genetic enhancement can affect the identities of people and benefit or harm them. Furthermore, it discusses various moral aspects of cloning human beings and body parts. Finally, it explores the metaphysical and moral implications of genetic manipulation of the mechanisms of aging to extend the human life span.The aim Genes and Future People is to move philosophers, bioethicists, and readers in general to reflect on the extent to which genes determine whether we are healthy or diseased, our identities as persons, the quality of our lives, and our moral obligations to future generations of people.