Reprogenetic technologies, which combine the power of reproductive techniques with the tools of genetic science and technology, promise prospective parents a remarkable degree of control to pick and choose the likely characteristics of their offspring. Not only can they select embryos with or without particular genetically-related diseases and disabilities but also choose embryos with non-disease related traits such as sex. Prominent authors such as Agar, Buchanan, DeGrazia, Green, Harris, Robertson, Savulescu, and Silver have flocked to the banner of reprogenetics. For them, increased reproductive choice and reduced suffering through the elimination of genetic disease and disability are just the first step. They advocate use of these technologies to create beings who enjoy longer and healthier lives, possess greater intellectual capacities, and are capable of more refined emotional experiences. Indeed, Harris and Savulescu in particular take reprogenetic technologies to be so valuable to human beings that they have insisted that their use is not only morally permissible but morally required. Rethinking Reprogenetics challenges this mainstream view with a contextualised, gender-attentive philosophical perspective. De Melo-Martin demonstrates that you do not have to be a Luddite, social conservative, or religious zealot to resist the siren song of reprogenetics. Pointing out the flawed nature of the arguments put forward by the technologies' proponents, Rethinking Reprogenetics reveals the problematic nature of the assumptions underpinning current evaluations of these technologies and offers a framework for a more critical and sceptical assessment.

About the Author
Inmaculada de Melo-Martin is professor of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medicine. She holds as PhD in Philosophy and an M.S. in Biology. Her research focuses on ethical and epistemological issues related to biomedical sciences and technologies. She has published extensively on those topics in both philosophy and science journals.

Reviews
Rethinking Reprogenetics: Enhancing Ethical Analyses of Reprogenetic Technologies is a compact, rigorously argued volume that packs quite a punch. * Zahra Meghani, Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal *
In my opinion, the combination of [the] different perspectives offered by [Inmaculada de Melo-Martin] results in a more enriching analysis for the reader, since it puts on the table an ethical discussion of tensions in the applications and use of reprogenetics, while revealing the absence of the gender vision that reprogenetics advocates. These crossfertilizations between ethics, feminist theory, and science, technology, and society studies bring to light problems that are obscured by androcentric and technoptimistic visions of reprogenetics, especially given their dominance. * Natalia Fernandez-Jimeno, Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics *
Enthusiasts about emerging reprogenetic technologies tend to dismiss critics as irrational, religious, or reactionary. In this bold new book, Inmaculada de Melo-Martin offers a rational, secular, and progressive critique of reprogenetic enthusiasm. In particular, she argues for an approach that takes women's experience seriously, that takes the value-ladenness of technologies seriously, and that questions the assumption that more technological choices mean more genuine flourishing." - Erik Parens, The Hastings Center
This is a book I have long been wishing for, a book that directly confronts the "enthusiasts" (especially Julian Savulescu and John Harris) regarding reproductive genetic technologies and offers a sober, nuanced response, one that highlights important gendered and societal aspects of the debate * Sara Goering, Hypatia Reviews Online *
Rethinking Reprogenetics by Immaculada de Melo-Martin has at its heart a desire to spark discussion about the foundations of our right to reproduce. While many of the arguments are familiar in feminist ethics, de Melo-Martin's text is a useful addition in that she is focusing on the development and application of genetic techonology towards reproductive ends. * Constance K. Perry, International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190460204
Author Inmaculada de Melo-Martin
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 142mm * 211mm * 33mm