Abstract

The 23rd volume in the respected series Ô Basic Bioethics’, this book contains seven original and two reprinted essays and a substantial introductory chapter by the editor. The main concern of the editor, and of several contributors, is to dispel the view that organised reli- gion has been consistently hostile to new biomedical developments. Instead, they emphasise that the practice of medicine is endorsed by the Church and by Jewish tradition. In principle, germline mod- ification might count as an extension of medicine. A consensus emerges in the volume that germline modification would be accept- able if it could be developed and applied with safety and social equity, without destroying any human embryos, and if conducted purely for therapeutic purposes rather than for any form of genetic enhancement.