John Harris

John Harris is the Director of The Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation and the Wellcome Strategic Programme in The Human Body, its Scope Limits and Future in the School of Law at the University of Manchester, where he is Lord Alliance Professor of Bioethics. He is also joint editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics and is a member of Britain’s Human Genetics Commission.

Throughout his career, Harris has defended broadly libertarian – consequentialist approaches to issues in bioethics. This has made him a leading defender of the rights of the individual to access medical technology and to benefit from medical services regardless of age, life expectancy, level of disability, quality of life or genetic pre-disposition to illness.

His book titled Enhancing Evolution: The Ethical Case for Making People Better, argues that human enhancement is a good thing; good morally, good for individuals, good as social policy and good for a genetic heritage that needs serious improvement.