Comprised of eighteen chapters contributed by experts in the fields of biology, computer science, information technology, law, and philosophy, Ethics, Computing, and Genomics provides instructors with a flexible resource for undergraduate and graduate courses in an exciting new field of applied ethics: computational genomics. The chapters are organized in a way that takes the reader from a discussion of conceptual frameworks and methodological perspectives, including ethical theory, to an in-depth analysis of controversial issues involving privacy and confidentiality, information consent, and intellectual property. The volume concludes with some predictions about the future of computational genomics, including the role that nanotechnology will likely play as biotechnologies and information technologies continue to converge.

Genome editing is a powerful new tool for making precise alterations to an organism's genetic material. Recent scientific advances have made genome editing more efficient, precise, and flexible than ever before. These advances have spurred an explosion of interest from around the globe in the possible ways in which genome editing can improve human health. The speed at which these technologies are being developed and applied has led many policymakers and stakeholders to express concern about whether appropriate systems are in place to govern these technologies and how and when the public should be engaged in these decisions. Human Genome Editing considers important questions about the human application of genome editing including: balancing potential benefits with unintended risks, governing the use of genome editing, incorporating societal values into clinical applications and policy decisions, and respecting the inevitable differences across nations and cultures that will shape how and whether to use these new technologies. This report proposes criteria for heritable germline editing, provides conclusions on the crucial need for public education and engagement, and presents 7 general principles for the governance of human genome editing.

Begun formally in 1990, the U.S. Human Genome Project's (HGP) goals were to identify all the 20,000 to 25,000 genes in human DNA, determine the sequences of the three billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA, store this information in databases, improve tools for data analysis, and transfer related technologies to the private sector. It was the first large scientific undertaking to address potential issues that arose from project data, and opened up vast possibilities for the use of genetic data and the alteration of our genetic makeup. This volume is the first to address the diverse range of ethical issues arising from the HGP, and enables professors to bring this critically important topic to life in the classroom. ';

Offering insights and coverage of the field of cyberethics, this book introduces readers to issues in computer ethics. The author combines his years of experience in the field with coverage of concepts and real-world case studies.

This handbook provides an accessible overview of the most important issues in information and computer ethics. It covers: foundational issues and methodological frameworks; theoretical issues affecting property, privacy, anonymity, and security; professional issues and the information-related professions; responsibility issues and risk assessment; regulatory issues and challenges; access and equity issues. Each chapter explains and evaluates the central positions and arguments on the respective issues, and ends with a bibliography that identifies the most important supplements available on the topic.

In this visionary look into the future, Freeman Dyson argues that technological changes fundamentally alter our ethical and social arrangements and that three rapidly advancing new technologies--solar energy, genetic engineering, and world-wide communication--together have the potential to create a more equal distribution of the world's wealth. Dyson begins by rejecting the idea that scientific revolutions are primarily concept driven. He shows rather that new tools are more often the sparks that ignite scientific discovery. Such tool-driven revolutions have profound social consequences--the invention of the telescope turning the Medieval world view upside down, the widespread use of household appliances in the 1950s replacing servants, to cite just two examples. In looking ahead, Dyson suggests that solar energy, genetics, and the Internet will have similarly transformative effects, with the potential to produce a more just and equitable society. Solar power could bring electricity to even the poorest, most remote areas of third world nations, allowing everyone access to the vast stores of information on the Internet and effectively ending the cultural isolation of the poorest countries. Similarly, breakthroughs in genetics may well enable us to give our children healthier lives and grow more efficient crops, thus restoring the economic and human vitality of village cultures devalued and dislocated by the global market. Written with passionate conviction about the ethical uses of science,The Sun, the Genome, and the Internetis both a brilliant reinterpretation of the scientific process and a challenge to use new technologies to close, rather than widen, the gap between rich and poor.

Spans the relationships among business, ethics, and society by including numerous entries that feature broad coverage of corporate social responsibility, the obligation of companies to various stakeholder groups, the contribution of business to society and culture, and the relationship between organizations and the quality of the environment.