Birth to Death: Science and Bioethics

The explosive growth of science and medicine in recent times has raised a host of ethical issues. This book reviews major advances in biology and medicine and explores their ethical implications. Organized by stage of human life--from birth to death--it guides the reader through the critical issues that face our technologically advanced society. Each section contains a sketch of the scientific research in a particular field and then discusses the issues that challenge our ethical and moral principles, social frameworks, and public policies. A world-class group of contributors from biology, medicine, technology, and ethics probe controversial topics such as genetic research, transplantation, reproductive technologies, prolonging life and euthanasia, and research on animals and humans. The essays are concise, to the point, and deliberately free of jargon, and the entire work is framed by an introduction and postscript that point the way to the major questions. This book is the perfect introduction for novice readers with general or specific questions about the ethical issues raised by the rapid advance of science and technology. David Thomasma has written many books on medical ethics including For the Patient's Good and Euthanasia: Toward an Ethical Social Policy. He and Thomasine Kushner are the editors of the journal Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics.