The term genethics first appeared in the literature with the publication of a book of the same title by David Suzuki and Peter Knudtson (1989), a volume that dealt with the moral guidelines for genetic research and engineering. In a second book of the same title, David Heyd (1992) extended the definition to the field that focuses on the mortality of creating people—that is, decisions having to do with people's existence, number, and identity. Since then, the term has spawned several other books (Bayertz 1995, Burley and Harris 2002), a number of periodicals including GenEthics News, and numerous web sites, many of which are no longer active.

Is Genethics Necessary?

There has been some debate over whether the introduction of the term is advisable. While Suzuki and Knudtson and others were arguing for a genethics to deal with the problems raised by the new genetics, John Maddox in a 1993 Nature article...