Genetic Ethics new available!

My latest book titled Genetic Ethics: An Introduction is now available from Polity Books for those interested in how the virtue ethics tradition can help us address the societal challenges posed by the genetic revolution.

I did a publisher's blog about the 5 years I spent writing the book here. An excerpt from that blog post:

When I first decided to start writing Genetic Ethics: An Introduction (nearly five years ago), I wanted the book to accomplish two, inter-connected, goals- the first goal was practical, and the second goal was more theoretical.

The practical goal was to help the reader confront the myriad of ethical and societal concerns that arise from the rapid advances in genetic knowledge and technologies like genome editing, sex selection and a potential anti-aging intervention. And I wanted this engagement with the ethical quandaries posed by the genetic revolution to be empirically informed not only about the science behind these innovations, but to also be informed about our evolved biology (e.g. why we age?) and the relevant realities of the world today (e.g. the global disease burden, patriarchy, climate change, etc.).

Is the prospect of “genetically engineering” humans- to make us live longer, healthier and happier lives- something to be hailed or feared? Would going down this path necessarily take us in the direction of re-visiting the unjust eugenic policies of the past? Is it desirable to extend human life longer when doing so could threaten to exacerbate problems like climate change and population density? And should parents have the liberty to select the sex of their offspring? These are pressing questions we must answer this century as the science is rapidly progressing, making these technologies a reality.

Cheers,
Colin