The patient as person in an increasingly gene-centric universe: how healthcare professionals should think about genomics and evolution.
In the past, the primary threat to the patient as person was a medical utilitarianism that would sacrifice the individual for the collective, that would coercively (ab)use a person for the sake of an in-group's health or happiness. Today, the threat is not only from vainglorious social groups but also from valorized genes and genomes. An over-valuation of genes risks making persons seem epiphenomenal. A central thesis of this article is that religious healthcare professionals have unique resources to combat this.
Jackson
Timothy P
TP
Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. tjack05@emory.edu
D005075:Biological Evolution; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations