Professor Ashcroft will discuss the ways genetics may be changing the way we think about human life and its meaning and importance. He will also talk about the way human rights law and thinking can help shape or constrain what genetics is used for. In discussion we can examine issues like DNA databanking, cloning, personalised medicine, and genetic choice in reproduction to think about how we can and cannot control genetic research and its applications.

Professor Ashcroft is professor of bioethics at Queen Mary, a college of the University of London. For 10 years he taught medical ethics in medical schools at Queen Mary, Imperial College London and Bristol University, and now teaches in Queen Mary’s law school. Having trained in history and philosophy of science, Professor Ashcroft’s research has been focussed on ethical issues in scientific and medical research. He is particularly interested in ethics in clinical trials, in genetic research, and in public health. He is deputy editor of the Journal of Medical Ethics, and has written many articles in the academic literature, the most significant recent publication being the Principles of Healthcare Ethics (Wiley, 2007), which he edited with Angus Dawson, John McMillan and Heather Draper.