The Governance Of Genetic Information (Hardcover)

THE GOVERNANCE OF GENETIC INFORMATION
This volume maps the areas of ethical concern in the debate regarding the governance of genetic information, and suggests alternative ethical frameworks and models of regulation in order to inform its restructuring. Genetic governance is at the heart of medical and scientific developments, and is connected to global exploitation, issues of commodification, commercialization and ownership, the concepts of property and intellectual property and concerns about individual and communal identity. Thus the decisions that are made in the next few years about appropriate models of genetic governance will have knock-on effects for other areas of governance. In short, the final answer to 'Who decides?' in the context of genetic governance will fundamentally shape the ethical constructs of individuals and their networks and relationships in the public sphere.
HEATHER WIDDOWS is Professor of Global Ethics at the University of Birmingham, where she teaches moral philosophy and bioethics.
CAROLINE MULLEN is a research officer at the Centre for European Law and Legal Studies, School of Law, University of Leeds.
Cambridge Bioethics and Law
This series of books was founded by Cambridge University Press with Alexander McCall Smith as its first editor in 2003. It focuses on the law's com plex and troubled relationship with medicine across both the developed and the developing world. In the past twenty years, we have seen in many countries increasing resort to the courts by dissatisfied patients and a growing use of the courts to attempt to resolve intractable ethical dilemmas. At the same time, legislatures across the world have struggled to address the questions posed by both the successes and the failures of modern medicine, while international organisations such as the WHO and UNESCO now regularly address issues of medical law.
It follows that we would expect ethical and policy questions to be integral to the analysis of the legal issues discussed in this series. The series responds to the high profile of medical law in universities, in legal and medical practice, as well as in public and political affairs. We seek to reflect the evidence that many major health-related policy debates in the UK, Europe and the international community over the past two decades have involved a strong medical law dimension. With that in mind, we seek to address how legal analysis might have a trans-jurisdictional and international relevance. Organ retention, embryonic st,em ce,ll research, physician assisted suicide and the allocation of resources to fund health care are but a few examples among many. The emphasis of this ser ies is thus on matters of public concern and/or practical significance. We look for books that could make a difference to the development of medical law and enhance the role of medico-legal debate in policy circles. That is not to say that we lack interest in the important theoretical dimensions of the subject, but we aim to ensure that theoretical debate is grounded in the realities of how the law does and should interact with medicine and health care.
Series Editors
Professor Margaret Brazier, University of Manchester
Professor Graeme Laurie, University of Edinburgh Professor Richard Ashcroft, Queen Mary, University of London
Professor Eric M. Meslin, Indiana University
Books in the series
Marcus Radetzki, Marian Radetzki, Niklas Juth Genes and Insurance: Ethical, Legal and Economic Issues
Ruth Macklin Double Standards in Medical Research in Developing Countries
Donna Dickenson
Property in the Body: Feminist Perspectives