Reconfiguring Nature: Issues and Debates in the New Genetics (Cardiff Papers in Qualitative Research)

As society comes to grips with the implications of genetic engineering, the mapping and sequencing of the human genome and the advent of the post-genomic era, this collection by an international team of authors should encourage and foster informed discussion of these key issues among the interested public, health and other professionals, teachers and students. Following an introduction discussing what is new about the new genetics, the book's 18 chapters are split into six sections, each with its own introduction and focusing on a different aspect of the biosciences. Topics include: genetic screening, gen-ethics, cloning and xenotransplantation, literacy, public understanding and the media, commerce, industry and patenting, and citizenship in the post-genomic era. The collection contributes to the development of qualitative social science methodology in an area where quantitative methods have proved less fruitful in exploring the contours and nuances of this developing technology.