Bioethics Perspectives and Dilemmas: Before to Beyond Life

The higher one soars on the wings of science, the worse our feet seem to get entangled in the wires (Unknown, New Yorker, Feb. 7, 1931). May not be the whole truth, but is not entirely untrue either. The ingenuity of the human brain seems to know no bounds. This is more than indicated by the marvels of new medical procedures and technologies which have astonished and baffled the world with a myriad of issues and apprehensions. Bioethics: Perspectives and Dilemmas is a collection of articles on new medical procedures and their repercussions, written over a span of twenty years when many of the issues were almost unknown or at an embryonic stage. The focus is on the social, legal and ethical implications of these procedures. Many of these procedures and technologies have a potential of misuse. In the Indian context especially their import without regard to the socio-cultural conditions needs closer scrutiny. As aptly remarked by Herbert Spencer, "only when genius is married to science, can the highest results be produced" (Education ch. 1). Add to this, the need for awareness, conscientiousness and legal regulation.