ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to explore the specific scientific, legal, and ethical issues raised by attempts to influence traits before birth. After exploring the concept of heredity as propounded by the current scientific orthodoxy, it examines the limitations of some scientific concepts typically used to describe the manipulability of various traits. This is followed by an exposition o f the techniques capable of enabling prenatal influence, before concluding with an overview o f the ethical and legal issues raised by these techniques.
