The Global Dynamics of Regenerative Medicine—A Social Science Critique

Contemporary developments in the biosciences associated with new biological possibilities have generated considerable interest among the social sciences, primarily because they challenge our understanding of the relationship between the body, nature, and identity. Regenerative medicine is such a field, and has attracted major commercial, clinical, political and popular interest. It has, however, been subject to very limited social science analysis. This book explores the hype and promise associated with the field, the uneven and often failed commercial exploitation we have seen, and the political, legal and bioethical challenges that developments in the regenerative medicine field produce. It does this at a global level, including analysis of what we are seeing in the US, Europe, China and Australia. The book establishes the meaning, boundaries and likely future development we will see, and asks whether regenerative medicine heralds a new paradigm for medicine itself.

ANDREW WEBSTER is Professor of Sociology of Science and Technology and Director of SATSU at the University of York, UK. He is also Dean of Social Sciences at York and has published extensively in the sociology of the biosciences. He was Programme Director for the ESRC's Stem Cell Initiative.