Govt committee backs ban on sex selection in Australia
IVF industry angry at conservative approach An Australian government body has just released its first major update of guidelines for assisted reproductive technology in 10...
CRISPR goes rogue
Released this week, "Change Agent" is a sci-fi thriller about genetic modification You know that CRISPR and gene editing have gone mainstream when they are...
Khan Sheikhun
The civil war in Syria may have moved into a dangerous new stage. President Trump ordered a strike on a government air force base, blaming...
Syria’s sarin attack part of the ‘weaponisation’ of healthcare
Rebel hospitals and clinics targeted by air strikes The deaths of possibly 100 Syrian civilians, including children, after a gas attack, is just a ghastlier...
Sperm bring in ‘serious money’ for London hospital
Male gametes become a commodity which crosses borders Sperm is becoming a commercialised commodity. In the UK a hospital run by the National Health Service...
Arkansas rushes to execute 7 in 11 days
It will run out of lethal drugs before the end of April. The American state of Arkansas has not executed anyone for more than 10...
Dutch doctors oppose plans for ‘completed life’ euthanasia
It could stigmatise the elderly Although Dutch government proposals for euthanasia for “completed life” – that is, for elderly people who want to step off...
Do you remember the Zika virus?
Here’s something very odd. Back in 2015 terrifying news came from Brazil about an epidemic of microcephaly – babies born with very small heads and...
Will India ban commercial surrogacy?
A huge and growing industry is under threat The government of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has released a draft of a bill regulating the...
Bioethics in the age of Trump
Do bioethicists need to redefine themselves to defy “authoritarian populism”? The election of Donald Trump and the emergence of “authoritarian populism” has given rise to...
Elon Musk wants us all to become cyborgs
Silicon Valley icon launches new company Silicon Valley entrepreneur Elon Musk has launched a company which will research ways to link computers directly with the...
Should psychopaths be morally bioenhanced?
Croatian bioethicists say it should be compulsory Our culture is fascinated by psychopaths. Go shopping on Amazon and you will find books like The Wisdom...