"Ethics and Biotechnology" grapples with the moral dilemmas posed by biotechnology. From plant breeding, agriculture, animal breeding and experimentation to human genetics and genetic engineering, biotechnology promises the capacity to manipulate living things and the power to manufacture wholly new life forms. In this collection of essays, internationally renowned scholars explore the ethics of "playing God" in the field of biotechnology.
The book covers the full range of moral dilemmas posed by biotechnology, from the smallest cells to animals and the engineering of human beings. The contributors are drawn from the fields of philosophy, agricultural economics, medicine, political theory, biology, embryology, social policy and theology. They present a thoroughly multidisciplinary and up-to-date survey of the ethical problems in this important and expanding field.

This work reflects the continuing debate as to whether we should experiment on human embryos or not. Should we use human embryos or tissue from them, for therapeutic or research programmes? The debate around questions such as this ranges from visions of new Frankenstein's monsters and grotesque hybrids on the one hand, to the possibility of cures for diseases like AIDS and cancer on the other. While the debate continues, decisions have to be made on the basis of the best available data, and this book aims to provide evidence for each side of the debate, drawing upon contributors who cover the scientific, legal, ethical, theological, historical, and public policy dimensions of human embryo research and experimentation. The scientific evidence is provided by figures in embryology such as Professor Robert Edwards, one of the pioneers of the "in vitro" fertilization technique. This book is intended to be of interest to students and teachers of medicine, philosophy, law, theology, social science and history.

Covering scientific, legal, ethical, historical, theological and public policy aspects of human embryo research, the cases for and against are put strongly and clearly. Scientific evidence is cogently presented by leading embryologists.

The development of biotechnology has produced nothing short of a revolution, both in our capacity to manipulate living things from single plant cells to human nature itself, but also to manufacture brand new life forms. This power to shape and create forms of life has sometimes been described as the power to "play God" and this book is about the ethics of "playing God" in the field of biotechnology. International scholars cover moral dilemmas posed by biotechnology, from the smallest cells through animals to the engineering of human beings.