The lady vanishes: what's missing from the stem cell debate

Most opponents of somatic cell nuclear transfer and embryonic stem cell technologies base their arguments on the twin assertions that the embryo is either a human being or a potential human being, and that it is wrong to destroy a human being or potential human being in order to produce stem cell lines. Proponents’ justifications of stem cell research are more varied, but not enough to escape the charge of obsession with the status of the embryo. What unites the two warring sides in ‘the stem cell wars’ is that women are equally invisible to both: ‘the lady vanishes’. Yet the only legitimate property in the body is that which women possess in their reproductive tissue and the products of their reproductive labour. By drawing on the accepted characterisation in law of property as a bundle of rights, and on a Hegelian model of contract as mutual recognition, we can lessen the impact of the tendency to regard women and their eggs as merely receptacles and women’s reproductive labour as unimportant

Can children and young people consent to be tested for adult onset genetic disorders?

What should we do about children and young people who want to be tested for incurable, adult onset, genetic disorders? In particular, what should a general practitioner do if he or she believes the young person is competent to decide, but the regional genetics unit refuses to test anyone under 18? In this article I discuss such a case (drawn from actual practice, but anonymised), and consider the arguments for and against allowing the young person to be tested in terms of good practice, case and statute law, empirical evidence, and ethics

Ethical issues in pre-cancer testing: the parallel with Huntington's disease

This chapter considers ethical issues involved in genetic testing and screening for susceptibility to various forms of cancer

Not so fast

Three-parent IVF is proceeding towards partial legalisation in the UK, but is this process too hasty