Guiding Icarus : Merging Bioethics with Corporate Interests

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Useful
Review: "...an interesting and useful resource for any industry insider..." (Chemistry & Industry)

Rating:
Summary: Recommended Book
Review: "Dhanda applies a case study approach to four timely topics: genetically modified foods, DNA databanking, personalized medicine, and stem cell research. In each case, Dhanda gives a very basic review of the science, discusses the potential benefits of the technology and the ethical issues, and then uses prominent corporate examples to raise relevant issues and draw lessons." (JAMA, January 22/29, 2003-Vol 289, No. 4)

Rating:
Summary: Indispensable Guide to Corporate Ethics
Review: Finally, someone has written a book from an insider's perspective that analyzes both bioethics and industry. Having worked in the biotech industry for years, and having an amateur's interest in philosophy and bioethics, I was amazed at how clearly Dhanda was able to synthesize the two. This is a book I wish that I had written, but I cannot imagine how he was able to draw on so much literature from both fields; few in the world could have written such a book due to the immense specialization and division of labor we find in both fields. Not only does Dhanda prove that he understands how both science and business really work (something that I have found few people writing in the field of bioethics have any knowledge of), but he also does a remarkable job of clearly framing the issues confronting the fields today. Guiding Icarus is a book that, while offering insights and wisdom to anyone interested in the general realm of industry, philosophy, and ethics, is particularly recommended to anyone working in biotechnology. Executives in the industry ignore this insightful, indispensable work at their peril.