This chapter provides background and an overview of genetics and human
reproduction, including its scientific, social, and historical context. The
chapter mentions ethical issues that arise in different areas of research re-
lated to genetics and human reproduction, including genetic testing and
screening, genetic counseling, prenatal genetic testing, preimplantation
genetic testing, surrogate pregnancy, reproductive cloning, somatic gene
therapy, stem cell research, and genetic engineering of plants, animals,
and humans. It also outlines some traditional critiques of attempts to con-
trol or manipulate human genetics and reproduction.

This chapter and chapter 12 address topics that are quite different from those
covered in the rest of the book. Chapters 2 through 10 address ethical prob-
lems and issues that arise within the process of research itself, and do not dis-
cuss in any significant depth issues that arise because of the effects of research
on society or the social context of research. Many issues, such as concerns
about authorship, plagiarism, data management, publication, and peer review,
have important impacts on the integrity of research but often have little direct
impact on society. Other issues, such as intellectual property and the use of an-
imal and human subjects, raise important issues for researchers and for society.
This chapter and the next address topics that arise when scientists consider the
social impact of research and its social context. This chapter considers ethical
issues in genetics and human reproduction. (Much of the material covered in
this chapter will be familiar to students of the biological sciences, and we apol-
ogize in advance for any material that seems introductory. However, many
students of physics, chemistry, psychology, the humanities, and other disci-
plines are not familiar with some of the basic facts pertaining to genetics and
human reproduction. Moreover, it is impossible to understand the ethical and
political issues without having a firm grasp of the relevant scientific, historical,
and social facts.)

Charles Darwin's (1809–1882) theory of evolution by natural selection was
one of the most significant scientific developments in the nineteenth century.
The publication of Darwin's book The Origin of Species (1859) had profound ef-
fects on the biological and social sciences as well as philosophy, politics, liter-
ature, and religion. Before this time, most scientists believed that all species,
including human beings, did not change or evolve over time. Species were re-
garded as fixed forms or archetypes created and made by God (or Nature), and
human beings were regarded as fundamentally different from animals because

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