Over the past few years, bioethics has emerged as a major issue in American public life. From stem cells to cloning, from euthanasia to assisted suicide, from nanotechnology to the new genetics, policymakers and citizens find themselves wrestling with novel areas of science, novel challenges in the laboratory and at the bedside, and perennial questions about the dignity of the human person. The choices we make about biotechnology in the years ahead will say much about the character of modern civilization in general and American democracy in particular. What do we value? Can we set limits? Can we distinguish the noble uses of our growing mastery over the human mind and human body from those that threaten to dehumanize us?

The following guide for policymakers is an effort to refine and enlarge the bioethics issues, so that those who govern might have a little more clarity -- morally, scientifically, and legislatively -- as they seek prudent policies for the biotech age. Some of these chapters focus on active legislative fights; others try to provide the deep ethical background for the political fights of the future.

Chapter 1: Stem Cells and Cloning

Chapter 2: The New Genetics

Chapter 3: Gamete Engineering

Chapter 4: Enhancement

Chapter 5: Nanotechnology

Chapter 6: Neuroelectronics