Book excerpt: The Innovative Uses of Genetic Science in Human Medicine and health promotion are now provoking new ethical and religious concerns as well as raising hopes. As the public becomes increasingly aware of the scientific discoveries in the field of genetics - discoveries that appear at once promising and problematic - people are also beginning to ask important fundamental questions: What does this biological revolution have to do with religious beliefs and ethics? How should Christians interpret its significance? Drawing from the work of 260 scientific, medical, and religious professionals who met to discuss genetic research under the auspices of the nation's Human Genome Project in 1990 and 1992, J. Robert Nelson fairly and expertly probes such pressing topics as genetic counseling, prenatal diagnosis, the treatment of inherited diseases, and the temptation to seek eugenic improvements of human nature and capabilities. Religious critiques by leading experts from Jewish, Christian, and other traditions also help to explain the two sides of human genetic science: the possibilities for good and the dangers of abuse.