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<p>Preface xi</p> <p>Acknowledgements xv</p> <p><b>Caution 1 Tip-Toe When Walking on the Bleeding Edge 1</b></p> <p>Case 1 The Dangers of Creating Life in the Lab 1</p> <p>Case 2 Design: More Intelligent Every Day 3</p> <p>Case 3 “Shroom” Science: Safe and Effective? 4</p> <p>Case 4 A Robot Code of Ethics 6</p> <p>Case 5 No More Periods, Period 8</p> <p>Case 6 Search Me, Shape Me, Any Way You Want Me 10</p> <p>Case 7 A Bloody Mess 11</p> <p>Case 8 Stem Cells: The Goo of Life and the Debate of the Century 14</p> <p><b>Caution 2 Everybody Lies 17</b></p> <p>Case 9 Lies, Damn Lies . . . and Scientific Misconduct 17</p> <p>Case 10 Conflict of Interest Means Business at NIH 18</p> <p>Case 11 While You’re Here, How about a Spinal Tap? 21</p> <p>Case 12 Study Subject or Human Guinea Pig? 22</p> <p>Case 13 The New Tuskegee: Exploiting the Poor in Clinical Trials 23</p> <p>Case 14 Salt in the Wound: Will India Rise up Against the Oppression of Foreign Clinical Trials? 26</p> <p>Case 15 Dr. Hwang and the Bad Apple Theory of Scientific Misconduct 27</p> <p><b>Caution 3 The Genome Isn’t What It Used to Be 34</b></p> <p>Case 16 Becoming Genomic: Just What Does it Mean Anyway? 34</p> <p>Case 17 Enhancement Comes from Insecurity 36</p> <p>Case 18 Wearing Genes from the Gulf War 37</p> <p><b>Caution 4 Reproduce at Your Own Peril 40</b></p> <p>Case 19 Tomorrow’s Child: Making Babies in the Twenty-First Century 40</p> <p>Case 20 An Argument against Human Cloning 42</p> <p>Case 21 Two Genetic Moms: High-Tech Trouble or Double the Love? 49</p> <p>Case 22 Grave Robbing the Cradle 51</p> <p>Case 23 Baby Banking 53</p> <p>Case 24 Cash Strapped American Fertility Docs Cry Out for Mercy 54</p> <p><b>Caution 5 Don’t Sweat the Nano-Sized Stuff 57</b></p> <p>Case 25 “Nanoethics”: The ELSI of Twenty-First-Century Bioethics? 57</p> <p>Case 26 The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 62</p> <p>Case 27 The Merging of Man and Machine 64</p> <p>Case 28 My Eye’s on You 66</p> <p><b>Caution 6 The State Will Protect Your Health Right Up Until It Doesn’t 69</b></p> <p>Case 29 Has the Spread of HPV Vaccine Marketing Conveyed Immunity to Common Sense? 69</p> <p>Case 30 Is the New Cigarette a Smoking Gun? Eclipse Unethical, Unregulated Research 71</p> <p>Case 31 “Universal” Healthcare: A Long Way Off 73</p> <p>Case 32 Newborn Screening with a Twist 75</p> <p>Case 33 HIV Testing Must Be Routine 76</p> <p>Case 34 Re-creating Flu: A Recipe for Disaster 78</p> <p>Case 35 Pandemic Influenza Requires Trust in Government Healthcare 79</p> <p>Case 36 A Hostile Environment for Environmental Protection Documents 82</p> <p>Case 37 To Quarantine or Not to Quarantine, Is That the Question? 83</p> <p><b>Caution 7 “Do No Harm” Has Become “Care for Yourself” 86</b></p> <p>Case 38 Medicine Is Not a Steel Mill 86</p> <p>Case 39 Does Your Doctor Have Skeletons? Good Luck Finding Them 87</p> <p>Case 40 Medicine’s Dirty Laundry 89</p> <p>Case 41 Dr. Koop: Meet Dr. Ethics 91</p> <p>Case 42 Organ Donation: Why Isn’t There an App for That? 94</p> <p>Case 43 Docu-Medical Shows Lack Reality 95</p> <p><b>Caution 8 You Aren’t Dead Until Someone Tells You So 98</b></p> <p>Case 44 Redefining Retirement: Beyond Rest and Recreation 98</p> <p>Case 45 Medicare Is Going South: What Do We Owe the Aging? 99</p> <p>Case 46 The Fight to Die Well: We Will Expect More from Death Than Our Ancestors Did 100</p> <p>Case 47 The Case of the Body Snatchers 102</p> <p>Case 48 A Few Conclusions from the Terri Schiavo Case 104</p> <p>Case 49 Living Wills Save Money? Dude, Did You Really Say That Out Loud? 106</p> <p>Case 50 The Plural of Anecdote Is Not Ambien 107</p> <p><b>Caution 9 Eat Only Food for Thought 110</b></p> <p>Case 51 Fat in America 110</p> <p>Case 52 Breakfast for Thought 111</p> <p>Case 53 Want Fish? Ethics First, Please 113</p> <p>Case 54 Dying for Food 115</p> <p><b>Caution 10 Beware of Ideologues and Demagogues 117</b></p> <p>Case 55 Bioethics for Christians, Corporate Whores, and Atheists 117</p> <p>Case 56 Pharma Owns Bioethics (and Other Fables) 120</p> <p>Case 57 The Kevorkianization of Cloning 123</p> <p>Case 58 Not in the Bush Leagues Anymore 125</p> <p>Case 59 Professor Hurlbut, Your 15 Minutes Are Up 128</p> <p>Case 60 The Heady Days of Proposition 71: Stem Cell Research in the California Sun 139</p> <p>Conclusion: Move Slowly and Stay Cool 146</p> <p>A Hot and Cold Running Genius 146</p> <p>Science Must Slow Its Speed 148</p> <p>Sources and Credits 150</p> <p>Index 160</p>

<p><b>Dr. Glenn McGee</b> is President of the Division of Research Ethics at Celltex Therapeutics, a stem cell research company in Houston, Texas. He held two successive endowed chairs in bioethics after serving for a decade as professor at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Medical Ethics. He is the founding editor of <i>The American Journal of Bioethics</i> and a leading authority on ethical issues in science and medicine. McGee has been a columnist for <i>The Scientist</i>, <i>New York Times News Service</i>, and <i>MSNBC</i>, and a frequent guest and commentator for National Public Radio, CNN, Fox, CBS, the <i>New York Times</i>, <i>Washington Post</i>, and <i>Oprah</i>, among others. McGee's books include <i>The Perfect Baby </i>(2nd edn., 2000), <i>The Human Cloning Debate </i>(with A. Caplan, 4th edn., 2004), and the best-selling <i>Beyond Genetics: The User's Guide to DNA</i> (2004). In addition, he has authored hundreds of scholarly papers about ethical, legal, and social issues in medicine.</p>

<p><i>Bioethics for Beginners</i> maps the giant dilemmas posed by new technologies and medical choices, using 60 cases taken from our headlines, and from the worlds of medicine and science. This eminently readable book takes it one case at a time, shedding light on the social, economic, and legal side of twenty-first-century medicine while giving the reader an informed basis on which to answer personal, practical questions such as:</p> <ul> <li>Should we test and modify our genes? </li> <li>How much is too much in the world of designer food and pets? </li> <li>Should we enhance ourselves, and, if so, how far beyond our natural abilities? </li> <li>Must we design our children? </li> <li>How long should we plan to live, and how should we think about dying in the twenty-first century? </li> </ul> <p>Unlocking the debate behind the headlines, this book combines clear thinking with the very latest from the frontiers of science and medicine, enabling readers to decide for themselves exactly what the scientific future should hold.</p>

Glenn McGee constantly breathes life into bioethics by ferreting out the interesting, the unusual, and the important ethical issues.  <i>Bioethics for Beginners</i> is a brilliant introduction to the ethical issues that make science really interesting, and a masterfully written read that combines scholarship, humor and humility.<br /> -Chris Mooney, author, <i>The Republican War on Science</i> and <i>The Republican Brain</i><br /> <br /> In a concise and matter-of-fact fashion, McGee stacks explosive issue upon explosive issue, from abhorrent clinical trials to the radical research that undermines our sense of humanity. An essential guide to the bioethics powder keg.<br /> -Richard Gallagher, Editor-in-Chief at <i>Lives: New Answers for Global Health</i> and co-founder of Hopeful Monster Publishing<br /> <br /> With its approachable style and diverse content, <i>Bioethics for Beginners</i> is proof that bioethics is neither stale nor reserved for the ivory towers of academia.<br /> - Nathan A. Kottkamp, Founder, National Healthcare Decisions Day; Partner, McGuireWoods, LLP<br />

SG