This article is one of the early academic responses to the birth of Louise Brown, outlining some of the implications and possibilities resulting from the advent of IVF, as well as moral issues relating to them. Grobstein raises the ethical questions of surrogacy, designer babies, potential health problems associated with embryo manipulation, and embryological research. He recognises the potential utility of ongoing embryo research for developing scientific understanding, and establishes the idea of ‘recognisability’ as a human as a criterion for personhood, arguing that embryology, within agreed limits, is an ethically acceptable pursuit for society.

This edited volume has a particular focus on embryology, with thoughtful essays on genetic origins, the morality of embryonic stem cell use and genetic engineering. An essay of particular note is ‘Benefit, Disability and the Non-Identity Problem’, in which Hallvard Lillehammer explores how far we can ethically either prevent or introduce disability. Stephen Wilkinson’s essay on designer babies considers the concept of an ‘open future’ – one in which a child’s life is not pre-determined – and questions the extent to which that can be compatible with different expressions of instrumentalism, such as the selection of saviour siblings. These essays are accessible and I recommend them to advanced higher students pursuing dissertations on these topics.

Steinbock considers embryology alongside abortion, asking whether it can be acceptable to select an embryo for certain genetic traits, or ‘deselect’ an older foetus for other traits. She attempts to construct a balanced view, considering the issue of sentience, the difficulties of achieving successful IVF, and the voices of disability rights campaigners. (Several other essays of interest are also available in this collection.) 

This collection of academic essays from a Roman Catholic perspective focuses on the argument that life begins at conception. Here, the contributing ethicists argue that because embryos possess ‘intrinsic potentiality’ to be actualised people, they not only have the potential to be people, but they also meet the definition of people already. The fact that embryos do not have other supposedly human characteristics is not seen as relevant, as they possess the ‘epigenetic primordia’ necessary to develop life and are able to produce a ‘global integration of tissues into a functioning whole’, thus demonstrating that they have more in common with human beings than simply living cells. These arguments are challenging for many students and provide a helpful rebuttal to the common misconception that ‘scientists’ believe life begins at birth, demonstrating that there is no agreed ‘scientific moment’ that life begins and that the question is still up for debate.

An exploration on the use of embryonic stem cells left over from IVF treatments and the ethics behind using these cells in research for cures to degenerative diseases.