Abstract
The discursive explosion that was provoked by the new genetics could support the impression that the ethical and social problems posed by the new genetics are somehow exceptional in their very nature. According to this view we are faced with special ethical and social problems that create a challenge so fundamental that the special label of genethics is needless to justify. The historical account regarding the evolution of the gene concepts could serve us to highlight the limits of what we know about genes and what we can do with genes. The widespread notion about the exceptionality of genetic knowledge and its applicative possibilities is hardly justifiable and leads to misunderstandings regarding the conceptualization of the ethical and social problems we might face. Following a more realistic interpretation of the role of genes in human life we might avoid a whole set of fictive dilemmas and counterproductive regulatory efforts in bioethics. Bioethical discourse should move from the gene-centered scientific discourse toward the more sophisticated and complex discourses where human development represented as a matter of complex interactions between genomes and environments, between genes, educational factors, nutritional regimes, and other different developmental resources. If a gene is seen as one among the different developmental resources that are shaping a given human trait then both genethics and genetic exceptionalism could hardly be represented as a justified approach in discussing the ethical and social problems of genetics.
Similar content being viewed by others
References:
Sándor, J. (2003). Society and genetic information: Codes and laws in the genetic era. Budapest and New York: CEU Press.
Ashcroft, R. E. (2003). The double helix 50 years on, models, metaphors, and reductionism—Bioethics should update its conception of the gene. Journal of Medical Ethics, 29, 63.
Moss, L. (2003). What genes can”t do. MA, Cambridge: MIT Press.
Falk, R. (2000). The gene—A concept in tension. In P. Beurton, R. Falk, & H.-J. Rheinberger (Eds.), The concept of the gene in development and evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Keller, E. F. (2000). The century of the gene. MA Cambridge, London: Harvard University Press.
Morgan, T. H. (1963). The relation of genetics to physiology and medicine. In Nobel lectures...physiology and medicine, 1922–1941. Amsterdam.
Gilbert, S. (1978). The embryological origins of the gene theory. Journal of the History of Biology, 1, 307–351.
Crick, F. (1967), Molekulákról és Emberekről. Budapest: Magvető Kiadó, 1986 at 50–51. trans. Crick, F. Of molecules and men. Washington Press.
Crick, F. (1970). Central dogma of molecular biology. Nature, 227, 561–563.
Buchanan, A., Brock, D. W., Daniels, N., & Wikler, D (Eds.) (2001). From chance to choice – genetics and justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sarkar, S. (1998). Genetics and reductionism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ethics and genetics study pack II. at The Center for Social Ethics and Policy, School of Law, University of Manchester, 2004.
Harris, J. (2001). Introduction: The scope and importance of bioethics. In J. Harris (Ed.), Bioethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jacob, F., & Monod, J. (1961). On the regulation of gene activity. Cold Spring Harbour Symposium on Quantitative Biology, 26: 93–211, 197–198.
Jacob, F., & Monod, J. (1961). Genetic regulatory mechanisms in the synthesis of proteins. Journal of Molecular Biology, 3, 318–356.
Black, D. L. (1998). Splicing in the inner ear, familiar tune, but what are the instruments? Neuron, 20, 165–168.
Monod, J., Changeaux, J. P., & Jacob, F. (1963). Allosteric proteins and cellular control systems. Journal of Molecular Biology, 6, 306–329.
Waddington, C. H. (1957). The strategy of the genes. London: Allen and Unwin.
Jablonka, E., & Lamb, M. J. (2005). Evolution in four dimensions. Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Portin, P. (1993). The concept of the gene, short history and present status. Quarterly Review of Biology, 68, 173–223.
Walters, C. K. (1994). Genes made molecular. Philosophy of Science, 6, 163–185.
Epp, C. D. (1997). Definition of a gene. Nature, 389, 537.
Griffiths, P. E., & Neumann-Held, E. M. (1999). The many faces of the gene. BioScience, 49(8), 656–663.
Fogle, T. (2000). The dissolution of protein coding genes. In P. Beurton, R. Falk, & H.-J. Rheinberger (Eds.), The concept of the gene in development and evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moss, L. (2003). What genes can’t do. MA, Cambridge: MIT Press.
Moss, L. (2004). One, two (too), many genes? At http://www.nd.edu/~ndphilo/papers/onetwo.pdf.
Project website: http://www.pitt.edu/~kstotz/genes/genes.html.
Stotz, K., Griffiths, P. E., & Knight, R. (2004). How biologists conceptualize genes, an empirical study. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (part C), 35, 647–673.
Kay, L. E. (2000). Who wrote the book of life? The history of the genetic code. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Annas, G. J. (1995). Genetic prophecy and genetic privacy – Can we prevent the dream from becoming a nightmare? American Journal of Public Health, 85(9), 1196.
Goldworth, A. (1999). Informed consent in the genetic age. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 8, 393.
Kevles, D. J., & Hood, L. (2000). Reflections. In D. J. Kevles, & L. Hood (Eds.), The code of codes: Scientific and social issues in the human genome project. (p. 324). London, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
Greely, H. T. (2000). Insurance, employment, and the genetics revolution. In D. J. Kevles, & L. Hood (Eds.), The code of codes: Scientific and Social Issues in the human genome project. London, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
Knoppers, B. M. (1999). Who should have access to genetic information? In J. Burley (Ed.), The genetic revolution and human rights. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cecile, A., Janssens, J. W., & Khoury, M. J. (2006). Predictive value of testing for multiple genetic variants in multifactorial diseases: implications for the discourse on ethical, legal and social issues. Italian Journal of Public Health, 3, 3–4.
Holtzmann, N. (2001). Putting the search for genes into perspective. International Journal of Health Services, 31(2), 445–461.
Baird, P. A. (2002). Identification of genetic susceptibility to common diseases. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 45(4), 516–528.
Wilkie, A. O. M. (2001). Genetic prediction: What are the limits? Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biology and the Biological Sciences, 32(4), 619–633.
Richards, M. (2001). How distinctive is genetic information? Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biology and the Biological Sciences, 32(4), 680.
Zimmern, R. L., & Kroese, M. (2007). The evaluation of genetic tests. Journal of Public Health, 29(3), 246–250.
Holm, S. (1999). There is nothing special about genetic information. In L. Thompson, & R. Chadwick (Eds.), Genetic information. New York: Kluwer.
Zimmern, R. L. (1999), Genetic testing: a conceptual exploration. Journal of Medical Ethics, 25, 2.
Murray, T. H. (1997). Genetic exceptionalism and ‘Future Diaries’: Is genetic information different from other medical information? In M. A. Rothstein (Ed.), Genetic secrets: Protecting privacy and confidentiality in the genetic era. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Condit, C. M., Ofule, N., & Sheedy, C. (1998). Determinism and mass-media portrayals of genetics. American Journal of Human Genetics, 62, 979–984.
Prainsack, B., & Tim, D. Spector (2006). Twins: A cloning experience. Social Science & Medicine, 63(10), 2739–2752.
Lewens, T. (2002). Development aid: on ontogeny and ethics. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biology and the Biological Sciences, 33, 195–127.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kakuk, P. Gene Concepts and Genethics: Beyond Exceptionalism. Sci Eng Ethics 14, 357–375 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-008-9056-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-008-9056-7