Genetics

The scientific understanding of genetics began with Mendel s discovery of the basic laws of inheritance The understanding of the genetic implications in human disease developed with the discovery of the laws of the inheritance of hemophilia The ongoing Human Genome Project will vastly increase our knowledge and understanding of the human genetic make up The application of medical genetic knowledge in individual human situations or even the pursuit of this knowledge can raise issues of the rightness or wrongness of these actions and may therefore have ethical implications Since genetics can include therapeutic gene manipulations including germ or inheritable cell alterations as well as genetic mapping and patient counseling these bioethical issues can have profound ramifications The Catholic ethical tradition rooted in philosophy and religion offers a traditional perspective regarding human medical genetics This book is an application of these principles in this rapidly developing area of medicine