This volume reflects on the effects of recent discoveries in genetics on a broad range of scientific fields. In addition to neuroscience, evolutionary biology, anthropology and medicine, contributors analyze the effects of genetics on theories of health, law, epistemology and philosophy of biology. Social and moral concerns about the relationship between genetics, society and the individual also figure prominently. Genetic discoveries fuel central contemporary public policy debates concerning, for example, human cloning, equitable access to healthcare or the role of genetics in medicine. Perhaps more fundamentally, advances in genetics are altering our perception of human life and death.
An interview with François Jacob by Anne Fagot-Largeault opens the volume. In this interview, Jacob, who shared a Nobel Prize with André Lwoff and Jacques Monod for their discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis, addresses many of the central methodological epistemological and ethical questions covered in the volume. The dynamic interdisciplinary character of this volume makes it relevant to scholars from many disciplines, from biology, philosophy and the social sciences.
Author(s): Anne Fagot-Largeault, Shahid Rahman, Juan Manuel Torres (eds.)
Series: Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science, 6
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 269
City: Dordrecht
Cover Page......Page 1
LOGIC, EPISTEMOLOGY, AND THE UNITY OF SCIENCE......Page 3
TITLE PAGE......Page 4
ISBN 140205663X......Page 5
PART II Genetics and Philosophy of Science: The Reductionism Debate and Beyond......Page 6
PART III Genetics and the Ethical, Legal and Sociological Debate......Page 7
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 8
PART I GENETICS AND THE LIFE SCIENCES......Page 11
PART II GENETICS AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE: THE REDUCTIONISM DEBATE AND BEYOND......Page 14
PART III GENETICS AND THE ETHICAL, LEGAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL DEBATE......Page 16
AN HISTORICAL OUTLINE AND FURTHER READING......Page 19
REFERENCES......Page 24
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 25
Shahid Rahman,......Page 26
Linda van Speybroeck, Gertrudis van de Vijver and Dani De Waele......Page 27
1. “THE METHODOLOGICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTION: THE PERSPECTIVE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY”......Page 28
2. “DO YOU WISH TO KNOW WHEN AND HOW YOU WILL DIE?”......Page 34
3. “GENETICS AND THE ETHICAL DEBATE”......Page 36
ENTRETIEN DE FRANÇOIS JACOB (FJ) AVEC ANNE FAGOT-LARGEAULT (AFL)......Page 42
PART I GENETICS AND THE LIFE SCIENCES......Page 56
CHAPTER 1 GENETICS AND THE HUMAN LINEAGE Can genetics throw some light on the evolution of the human lineage?......Page 58
1. RELATEDNESS BETWEEN GREAT APE AND HUMAN LINEAGES. MOLECULAR EVIDENCE......Page 59
2. THE ORIGIN OF MODERN HUMANKIND: “OUT OF AFRICA” OR “MULTIREGIONAL”?......Page 60
3. THE MITOCHONDRIAL EVE AND ZFY ADAM......Page 62
4. SIZE OF ANCESTRAL HUMAN POPULATIONS......Page 64
5.1. Neanderthals and Modern Humans......Page 69
5.2. Language......Page 70
5.3. Masticatory Apparatus......Page 72
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 73
REFERENCES......Page 74
CHAPTER 2 GENETICS AND NEUROSCIENCE Some examples of their recent convergence and of the continuing nature–nurture controversy, with emphasis on sleep physiology......Page 80
REFERENCES......Page 86
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 88
2. PUNCTUATION OF THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE......Page 89
3. CONTEXTUAL DYNAMICS......Page 91
4. CONTEXTUAL SPECIFICATION OF A QUANTUM......Page 92
5. QUANTUM DYNAMICS IN SECOND PERSON DESCRIPTIONS......Page 93
6. EXPERIENCING, TRANSFORMING AND REPRESENTING......Page 96
7. REPRESENTATIONS OF MATERIAL ORIGIN OR THE GENETIC CODES......Page 99
8. QUANTUM DYNAMICS PRECIPITATING THE GENETIC CODES......Page 103
REFERENCES......Page 105
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 106
2. THE GENES AS THE ATOMS OF BIOLOGY......Page 107
3. GENES ARE ESSENTIAL FOR THE ACTION OF NATURAL SELECTION......Page 109
4. THE SEARCH FOR A MECHANISTIC LINK BETWEEN GENES AND DEATH......Page 111
5. THE ROLE ACCORDED TO GENES IN AGING AND DEATH BY EVOLUTIONARY THEORY......Page 112
REFERENCES......Page 113
PART II GENETICS AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE: THE REDUCTIONISM DEBATE AND BEYOND......Page 116
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 118
2. GENERAL STATE OF PLAY......Page 119
3. THE SYNTACTIC HOPE......Page 122
4. EXPLANATORY REDUCTIONISM......Page 127
5. NOMOLOGICAL REDUCTIONISM BEYOND MOLECULAR GENETICS......Page 128
6. POST-MOLECULAR REDUCTIONISM: EXAMINING ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION......Page 131
7. CONCLUSION......Page 132
REFERENCES......Page 134
1. GENE: A THEORETICAL TERM......Page 136
2. IS THE CONCEPT OF THE GENE TRANSLATABLE INTO MOLECULAR TERMS?......Page 138
3. WHAT IS A GENE IN CONTEMPORARY BIOLOGY? A COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE......Page 143
REFERENCES......Page 149
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 152
2. TEXTBOOKS AND CLASSICAL GENETICS......Page 153
3. LAWS AND EXEMPLARS IN BIOLOGICAL THEORIES......Page 155
4. THE STRUCTURALIST NOTION OF FUNDAMENTAL LAW......Page 157
5. FUNDAMENTAL LAW AND SPECIAL LAWS IN CLASSICAL GENETICS......Page 159
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 164
REFERENCES......Page 165
1. GENETICIZATION AS IN “IT’S ALL IN THE GENES”......Page 170
2. GENETICIZATION AS “IT’S NOT ALL IN OUR GENES”......Page 172
3.1. Epigenetics versus Genetics......Page 174
3.2. Evolving Definitions......Page 175
3.3. A Layered View on Genomic Contexts......Page 177
4. IMPLICATIONS FOR PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGY......Page 181
5. CONCLUSION......Page 185
REFERENCES......Page 186
PART III GENETICS AND THE ETHICAL, LEGAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL DEBATE......Page 190
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 192
2. THE CLINICIAN’S VIEW: A MORE RESERVED ASSESSMENT......Page 193
3. POLEMICS ABOUT THE “GENETICIZATION” OF MEDICINE......Page 195
4. CONCERNS RELATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF “REPROGENETICS”......Page 199
5. CONCLUSION......Page 203
REFERENCES......Page 204
CHAPTER 10 THE HARM OF BEING A CLONE......Page 206
REFERENCES......Page 217
1. INTRODUCTION: A CHILD OF ONE’S OWN......Page 220
2. GENES, GENETIC DETERMINISM, AND CHILDREN......Page 222
3. THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL......Page 225
4. PARENTHOOD, ADOPTION, AND CHILDREN OF ONE’S OWN......Page 229
REFERENCES......Page 233
Legal Cases Cited......Page 235
1. A NEW SETTING FOR LAW IN THE FIELD OF HUMAN GENETICS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY: GLOBALIZATION......Page 236
2. THE BASIS FOR A TRANSCULTURAL LAW IN THE FIELD OF HUMAN GENETICS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY3......Page 240
4. THE INFLUENCE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW ON HUMAN GENETICS IN A RANGE OF NEW CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF THE “BIOETHICAL” CITIZEN......Page 245
5. SOME FINAL COMMENTS......Page 246
REFERENCES......Page 248
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 250
2. GENETIC SERVICES......Page 251
3. KUHNEAN AND NON KUHNEAN REVOLUTIONS......Page 255
4. INFLUENCE OF GENETICS ON HEALTH THEORY......Page 257
5. CONCLUSIONS......Page 260
REFERENCES......Page 261
NAME INDEX (with page links)......Page 262
SUBJECT INDEX (with page links)......Page 268
