January 17, 2025
A New Edition of Hastings Center Report Is Now Available
Hastings Center Report (vol. 54, Issue 6, 2024) is available online by subscription only.
Research Ethics
January 16, 2025
What to Expect from Neuralink in 2025
(MIT Technology Review) – Neuralink did not reply to emails seeking comment, but here is what our analysis of its public statements leads us to expect from the company in 2025. How many people will get these implants?Elon Musk keeps … Read More
January 15, 2025
AI-designed proteins tackle century-old problem — making snake antivenoms
(Nature) – Proteins designed using artificial intelligence (AI) can block the lethal effects of toxins delivered in the venom of cobras, adders and other deadly snakes. The AI-designed proteins could form the basis of a new generation of therapies for … Read More
January 13, 2025
Is drinking alcohol ever good for you? Here’s what the science says.
(Popular Science) – If you’re confused, you’re not alone. Money is often a talking point for those on both sides of the moderate drinking debate. The alcohol industry and its lobbying arm have funded, advised, and promoted research endorsing health … Read More
January 13, 2025
Musk Says Neuralink Implanted Third Patient With Brain Device
(Bloomberg via Yahoo!) – Neuralink Corp.’s brain-computer device has been implanted in a third patient and the company has plans for about 20 to 30 more implants in 2025, founder Elon Musk said. “We’ve got now three humans with Neuralinks … Read More
January 13, 2025
A New Edition of Journal of Bioethical Inquiry Is Now Available
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (vol. 21, no. 3, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
January 9, 2025
NIH launches initiative to double check biomedical studies
(Science) – But so far, few investigators seem interested in having a contract lab repeat their experiments Other countries have launched their own programs—the main Dutch science agency has invited researchers to repeat landmark studies, with mixed success, and a … Read More
January 8, 2025
AI Social Media Users Are Not Always a Totally Dumb Idea
(Wired) – Meta’s AI characters users might seem useless, but fake social media users can sometimes offer valuable insights into real human behavior. Let’s pause from hating on Meta for a moment though. It’s worth noting that AI-generated social personas … Read More
January 8, 2025
Drug Company to Share Revenues With Indigenous People Who Donated Their Genes
(New York Times) – Variant Bio, a small biotech company based in Seattle, is using genetic information from Indigenous people to develop drugs for obesity and diabetes. When Stephane Castel first met with a group of M?ori people and other … Read More
January 6, 2025
A New Edition of Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics Is Now Available
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (vol. 33, no. 4, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
January 3, 2025
New Articles from BMC Medical Ethics Are Now Available
BMC Medical Ethics has new articles available online. Articles include:
December 31, 2024
24, and Trying to Outrun Schizophrenia
(New York Times) – Early intervention tries to rein in psychotic disorders before they can ruin young lives. For Kevin Lopez, everything is on the line. An estimated 100,000 people experience a first episode of psychosis every year, roughly four … Read More
December 31, 2024
WIRED Tested Miracle Hangover Cures. You’re Welcome
(Wired) – Do “anti-hangover” supplements really work? With the sterling help of a UK rugby team, we raised a glass or five to find out. So on a cold and frosty Saturday night in December—with a crate of beer in … Read More
December 26, 2024
Behind Closed Doors: The Spy-World Scientists Who Argued Covid Was a Lab Leak
(Wall Street Journal) – “The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Intelligence Council’s work on Covid-19 origins complied with all of the Intelligence Community’s analytic standards, including objectivity,” the spokeswoman said. But an investigation by The … Read More
December 24, 2024
IVF pioneer used sperm from ‘lots’ of medical staff – and kept no records of the babies they fathered
(Daily Mail) – A retired NHS scientist has sensationally revealed that IVF pioneer Patrick Steptoe, whose work led to the world’s first test tube baby, used sperm from ‘lots’ of medical staff without keeping records of the children they fathered. … Read More
December 23, 2024
APpaREnTLy THiS iS hoW yoU JaIlBreAk AI
(404 Media) – Anthropic created an AI jailbreaking algorithm that keeps tweaking prompts until it gets a harmful response. New research from Anthropic, one of the leading AI companies and the developer of the Claude family of Large Language Models … Read More
December 20, 2024
Stem cells head to the clinic: treatments for cancer, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease could soon be here
(Nature) – More than 100 clinical trials put stem cells for regenerative medicine to the test. It’s a turning point for a field beset with ethical and political controversy. The study is one of more than 100 clinical trials exploring … Read More
December 19, 2024
Could psychedelic drugs improve the mental health of autistic people?
(Science) – A brace of new studies probes benefits and risks for an understudied group Profound feelings of unity, transcendence, ineffability, and awe—as well as improved mental health. Those were among the testimonials in a recent survey of 233 people … Read More
December 18, 2024
Controversial COVID study that promoted unproven treatment retracted after four-year saga
(Nature) – Paper on hydroxychloroquine led by French researcher Didier Raoult is second-most-cited study ever to be withdrawn. A study that stoked enthusiasm for the now-disproven idea that a cheap malaria drug can treat COVID-19 has been retracted — more … Read More
December 18, 2024
A New Edition of Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics Is Now Available
Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics (vol. 45, no. 6, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
December 17, 2024
Infamous paper that popularized unproven COVID-19 treatment finally retracted
(Science) – Study on hydroxychloroquine by Didier Raoult and colleagues gets pulled on ethical and scientific grounds A 2020 paper that sparked widespread enthusiasm for hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment was retracted today, following years of campaigning by scientists who … Read More
December 17, 2024
Scientists warn of ‘unprecedented’ risks of research into mirror life
(CNN) – A group of 38 scientists working in nine countries has sounded an alarm about the potential creation of mirror bacteria — synthetic organisms in which the molecular structure found in nature is reversed and could put humans, animals … Read More
December 13, 2024
Scientists urge halt to research on creating synthetic “mirror” bacteria that could evade human immunity, disrupt ecosystems
(Bulletin of Atomic Scientists) – Scientists say mirror image versions of life are possible: organisms built on molecules that, for example, don’t use the normal “right-handed” DNA of life on Earth, but a synthesized “left-handed” DNA instead. Although the capability … Read More
December 13, 2024
Can You Transplant a Head to Another Body?
(Aeon) – What a 1970 experiment reveals about the possibility and perils of ‘head transplants’ [TED-Ed video] After decades of experimenting on animal brains, the US neurosurgeon Robert J White proposed executing a ‘whole body transplant’ on a rhesus monkey … Read More
December 13, 2024
For kids with rare genetic disorders, customized CRISPR treatments offer hope
(NPR) – “The for-profit sector is focusing on conditions, such as sickle cell disease, such as cancer, which are commercially viable because there are just enough people with them,” Urnov says. The problem is, “that leaves 99.5% of folks outside … Read More
