Back to the future? New genetics and disabled people

Abstract

This article attempts to put developments in molecular biology into the broader context of disability rights and the relationship between disabled people and medical science. It includes a critique of biologi cal reduclionism and of the role of the media in inflating 'back-to- basics biology'. The article suggests that disabled people have not been consulted or involved in debates around the new genetics and that a wider discussion of these developments is urgently needed.