Stories on genetics
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Features
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Untwisting the story of DNA
Fifty years after the discovery of DNA, David King looks at how genetic knowledge has been used to control and exploit natural processes — including human reproduction — for profit
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Whose DNA is it anyway?
Thousands of gene patents have been issued – yet in most cases they are not inventions, and patenting harms the public interest, warns Sue Mayer
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Testing times ahead
Rapid developments in genetics herald a ‘revolution’ in medicine, and new dilemmas for the NHS. As the government drafts its green paper on genetics, David King examines the key issues it must address
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Unreliable evidence
Insurance companies want to use genetic information – yet genetic testing is unlikely to predict early death with any accuracy. David King investigates
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The world is hungry for justice, not genetics
Claims that genetically modified foods will help eradicate famine are bogus says Sarah Sexton, who examines the links between corporate greed and human hunger
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If you tolerate this, your children will be next
Whatever geneticists good intentions, the application of their research could result in eugenic policies against disabled people, argues Bill Albert
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It’s life, but not as we know it
If advocates of human genetic engineering are not checked, says David King, ‘enhancement’ of human beings will become a reality, with unknown consequences
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The future has arrived
Advances in genetic science have not been accompanied by parallel advances in planning the new patterns of health care delivery genetics will demand. Joanne Lenaghan says we must start immediately
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No patent, no cure?
Britain’s support for a draft European directive allowing genetic patents should cause concern, says Sarah Sexton
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Isn’t it time you changed your make-up?
Rapid advances in genetics promise startling new solutions to problems we never knew we had - and the tendency is to reduce complex social issues to individual problems with a technical fix, warns Paul Martin
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Constitutional reform?
Constitutional reform? Genetic engineering holds out a promise of prevention or cure for all sorts of diseases — even ones you never dreamed were hereditary. Patricia Spallone reports on the big business gene machine
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Mass genetic screening: the mirage of choice
Calls are now being made for mass screening against genetic disorders. But screening offers no easy solutions, says Jane Jefferson
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Shop-soiled pairs of genes
The use of new techniques in genetics is expanding. Jane Jefferson looks at what impact genetic screening could have on occupational health
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News
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Reviews
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Problem genes
Genetics and Society. An introduction
Alison Pilnick
Open University Press, 2002. £16.99 -
Hard thinking allowed
DESIGNING LIFE? Genetics, Procreation and Ethics
Maureen Junker-Kenny (ed)
Ashgate, 1999, £35.00 -
Breeding discontent
BRAVE NEW NHS? The impact of the new genetics on the health service
Jo Lenaghan
IPPR, 1998, £7.50 -
Beyond the baskets
GM FREE: a shopper’s guide to genetically modified food
Sue Dibb and Tim Lobstein
Virgin, 1999, £4.99 -
Gene blues
GENERATION GAMES: GENETIC ENGINEERING AND THE FUTURE FOR OUR LIVES
Pat Spallone
Women’s Press, 1992, £7.95
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Letter
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Editorial
