June 9, 2006
Rather than arguing bitterly, like we have, over areas that we don’t agree on such as embryonic stem cell research and taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research let’s focus our efforts on areas where we all agree. — Illinois … Read More
June 9, 2006
Enrollment of Children in Drug Study Suspended (AP) Lawsuit: Lipitor Tied To Nerve Woes, Memory Loss (New York Post) Plan to Build Children’s DNA Database Raises Concerns (Wall Street Journal) Employee Stigma over Infertility (BBC) Albany Scientists Turn Thought into … Read More
June 2, 2006
There’s no reason why we can’t think in terms of artificial brain parts in the same way we can think in terms of artificial eyes and artificial ears. Neuroscientist Theodore Berger, has developed the first artificial brain part, a hippocampus … Read More
June 1, 2006
The current issue of Philosophy Now contains a short article that describes three branches of bioethics and explores the relationship between philosophy, ethics, and bioethics. A really great article. Highly recommended.
May 31, 2006
The blog Brainethics has posted a list of academic writings on the topic of neuroethics. The plan is to keep it updated, so it might be something you want to bookmark.
May 30, 2006
The latest edition of The New Atlantis has an article that carefully examines and reasons through the arguments put forth in defense of cloning and destructive embryonic stem cell research. I simply cannot do justice to the article by cutting … Read More
May 26, 2006
We don’t have to choose between science and ethics. We can continue to pursue both. White House spokesman Ken Lisaius on President Bush’s stated intention to veto legislation, currently under consideration in the Senate and similar to legislation passed by … Read More
May 24, 2006
The BBC has an interesting look at some current research on “artificial†happiness. Aimed primarily at therapeutic uses such as curing depression or assuaging severe pain, there is the potential for enhancement uses such as artificial happiness or synthetic emotion. … Read More
May 22, 2006
I’ve recently become aware of a brief fictional account of life in the genetics era. It’s well worth your time and attention. The life and times of Gene Kilobase A.D. 2005 – 2115
May 19, 2006
If we use stem cells that have been taken from an umbilical cord, they have not been conditioned by a person’s immune system. Those cells are much more plastic, and we don’t need as exact a match genetically. — Pediatric … Read More
May 19, 2006
William Saletan, national correspondent for the online magazine Slate confirms what I’ve been saying (here and here): “We’ve just taken another step down the slippery slope toward eugenics . . . And there’s no sign of a foothold ahead that … Read More
May 18, 2006
Debra Spar, a professor at Harvard Business School and author of a The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception, estimates that egg donation is now a $40 million-a-year industry. Not so surprisingly, CBS news … Read More
May 17, 2006
AFP reports that couples from a number of countries are coming to the US in order to select the sex of their children. The article reviews some common objections to sex selection — embryos of the wrong sex are destroyed, … Read More
May 15, 2006
President Bush delivered the commencement address at Oklahoma State University last weekend. In the speech, he talked about changes in technology, which have affected entertainment, education, work, transportation, and medicine. These advances in technology will transform lives — and they … Read More
May 12, 2006
“I do worry if they pass this law that it would be used for the wrong reasons. People would be put under pressure because when you are that ill, you just want to do whatever is the easiest thing.†David … Read More
May 11, 2006
Britain’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) ruled that human embryos may be screened for genes that raise the risk of cancer in adulthood. Previously the HFEA had allowed screening for fatal childhood diseases. This is pure eugenics — the … Read More
May 11, 2006
Lawmakers in Kansas “want to better understand the esoteric medical terms used by both sides†of the stem cell debate. Unfortunately, the Kansas City Star isn’t much help, referring to embryonic stem cell research as “early stem-cell research.†Instead, legislators … Read More
May 9, 2006
Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article on a new stem cell bill cosponsored by Senators Santorum and Specter. The bill promotes techniques for obtaining pluripotent stem cells without harming embryos. Unfortunately, the article is misleading on a number of points. … Read More
May 8, 2006
This week will see the re-introduction of a bill to legalize “assisted dying†(physician-assisted suicide (PAS)) in Britain. Over the weekend, the British papers were full of articles and op-eds on the topic. Writing for The Observer, Mary Warnock argues … Read More
May 5, 2006
The age of state-sponsored liberal eugenics has just officially begun. On April 29, 2006 Medical News Today announced that Case Law School was receiving $773,000 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to “develop guidelines for the use of human … Read More
May 5, 2006
Cord blood banking is a simple, safe and secure procedure that provides a unique opportunity to save a life. Research on stem cell treatments is evolving at an incredible rate and is being used to treat a growing range of … Read More
May 3, 2006
Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History and the Last Man is out in a revised paperback edition. In the new afterword to the book, Fukuyama identifies four specific challenges to the historical trend toward liberal democracy. Of particular interest for … Read More
May 2, 2006
The Kansas City Star reports that Missouri Senator Jim Talent “opposes a Missouri ballot measure protecting stem-cell research.” Well, yes and no. Talent does oppose the Show-Me State ballot measure, but it is not a measure to protect stem-cell research. … Read More
April 28, 2006
“When utilitarianism becomes a substitute for right and wrong, the end result is a lot more wrong.” — Debra J. Saunders, writing an opinion piece on black-market organ transplantation. “American Vampire,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 25, 2006.
April 26, 2006
The latest edition of The New Atlantis has a review of four books written from a transhumanist perspective: Ramez Naam’s More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement James Hughes’s Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the … Read More
