In the immediate future we are likely to witness significant developments in human genetic science. It is therefore of critical importance that Christian ethics engages with the genetics debate, since it affects not just the way we perceive ourselves and the natural world, but also has wider implications for our society. This book considers ethical issues arising out of specific practices in human genetics, including genetic screening, gene patenting, gene therapy, genetic counselling as well as feminist concerns. Genetics and Christian Ethics argues for a particular theo-ethical approach that derives from a modified version of virtue ethics, drawing particularly on a Thomistic understanding of the virtues, especially prudence or practical wisdom and justice. The book demonstrates that a theological voice is highly relevant to contested ethical debates about genetics.

In the immediate future we are likely to witness significant developments in human genetic science. Celia Deane-Drummond considers the ethical issues arising out of specific practices, including genetic screening, gene therapy and genetic counselling and takes a particular theo-ethical approach to current issues in genetics.

Details the history and progression of genetic engineering and examines the ways that genetic research conflicts with Christian ethics.

This book is part of a series - Studies in a Christian World View - that focuses on the relation of Christianity to the various academic disciplines - philosophy, psychology, economics, the arts, history, literature. The series addresses difficult questions that arise when we bring considerations derived from a specific religious worldview to bear on matters common to both Christians and non-Christians.

"We face unprecedented choices in genetics for which traditional ethics provides little direct guidance. What role can the religious community play in addressing the ethical and theological issues that even scientists now acknowledge as urgent?"--cover.

The evolutionary origins of human beings, and in particular the origins of human morality, have always attracted debate and speculation, not just in the academic community but in popular science and the wider general population as well. The arguments and explanations put forward over the years seem to thoroughly catch the popular imagination, but there is the danger that these explanations tend to step outside the bounds of scientific theory and become powerful popular myths instead. In Neil Messer's "Selfish Genes and Christian Ethics", the author is challenging this tendency. Instead, he provides a Christian theological anthropology, which, among other things, aims to give Christians and the churches the confidence to engage with assumptions that evolutionary theory and religious beliefs are untenable. This is a valuable resource for anyone engaged in the study of theology, providing the reader with the ability to consider both the theoretical and the practical questions raised by evolutionary discussions of ethics and morality.

Advances in genetic science and medicine raise questions for us all, such as: How far should we intervene in 'natural' processes? How far should we go to alleviate suffering? What constitutes a worthwhile life? Exploring these questions and more, this book considers theological, ethical and legal aspects relating to the human genome.