What is proposed herein is a one-year project to develop models for broad-based community dialogue to examine the value and ethical dimensions of emerging technologies in Applied Human Genetics and to conduct one model symposium. The project will be carried out by a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional team with considerable expertise in ethics, science policy, and education. The Center for Applied & Professional Ethics at The University of Tennessee, an acknowledged pioneer in applied ethics research and teaching, joins with an experienced planning group from an unusually science-literate congregation (The Committee on Science and Theology of the First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge, Tennessee) to develop this project. The focus will be guided by the report of a task force of the United Methodist Church which has held extensive hearings on these matters around the country. Several enduring results are anticipated, including a handbook/curriculum for follow-up community discussions in this area and a follow-up project to carry this inquiry into high school curricula throughout Tennessee. As an avenue to reach one segment of the public, a church education program can be attractive. Persons who have an association with a church (which is, of course, a significant segment of American society) tend to look on information obtained through this channel as reliable, and they look to the church for leadership in moral inquiry. On the other hand many older citizens look on pronouncements from government agencies with some skepticism. The report of the Genetic Sciences Task Force of the United Methodist Church, which forms a focus of this project, encourages both laity and clergy to become informed about genetic matters and engage in community inquiries about the implications of this science and technology for their lives.
