"Parliaments and Technology explores an issue critically important to the practice of democracy everywhere: How do citizens and elected officials assess the opportunities and costs of new technologies that may profoundly impact their societies future? For example, what are the social and moral implications of gene patents, reproductive technology, cloning and genetic engineering or of virtually unlimited access to information? Technology assessment has become one of the most important methodologies for aiding legislatures in analyzing and deliberating such questions."--BOOK JACKET.