BookJames T. Bradley.
Summary: A guide to the rapidly progressing Age of Biotechnology, Brutes or Angels provides basic information on a wide array of new technologies in the life sciences, along with the ethical issues raised by each. With stem cell research, Dolly the cloned sheep, in vitro fertilization, age retardation, and pharmaceutical mind enhancement, humankind is now faced with decisions that it has never before had to consider. The thoughtfulness, or lack of it, that we bring to those decisions will largely determine the future character of the living world.
Contents:
1. Cells and molecules: the unity of life
2. Stem cells : embryos, therapeutic cloning, and personhood
3. Embryo selection : preimplantation genetic diagnosis
4. The Human Genome Project : spin-offs and fallout
5. Human diversity, genes, and medicine : richness and dangers
6. Genetic enhancement : humankind healing and redesigning itself
7. Human reproductive cloning : sameness, uniqueness, and personal identity
8. Age retardation : chasing immortality for better or worse
9. The Mind : neuroenhancement and neuroethics
10. Synthetic biology : from cocreator to creator.