Existential risk #2: gene editing a potential WMD?
Here’s what a few bioethicists have to say. In February this year, the US Director of Intelligence James R. Clapper named gene-editing technology as...
Existential risk #1: Mass extinction events
Human beings are more likely to die in a mass extinction event than a car crash, according to a new report on existential risk. Eve...
Shakespeare and bioethics
What did Will have to say about medicine and health? Shakespeare may appear to be unimportant and irrelevant in bioethics. Yet the latest editorial published...
Kuwait to establish national DNA record
In a world first, the State of Kuwait will require all citizens and visitors to provide DNA samples to government authorities. In a world first,...
Sale of complementary medicines unethical: Australian doctors
Criticism is mounting in Australia about the sale of low-evidence complementary medicines in pharmacies. Criticism is mounting in Australia about the sale of low-evidence complementary...
Artificial concerns?
This week Nature published a strident editorial defending 'legitimate concerns' about contemporary AI research. Earlier this year, the American Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF)...
Fallout from Chernobyl continues 30 years on
Does environmental ethics form part of bioethics? If yes, then Chernobyl is of grave significance. Does environmental ethics form part of bioethics? If yes, then...
Illegal organ trade burgeoning in Iraq
In the face of continuing economic hardship Iraqis have turned to the illegal organ trade. In the face of continuing economic hardship Iraqis have turned...
IVF experts divided over mosaic embryos
Debate is intensifying among fertility specialists about the use of mosaic embryos in IVF. Debate is intensifying among fertility specialists about the use of mosaic...
Nascent concerns about womb transplants
Bioethicists have sounded a note of caution after a failed womb transplant in the US. Bioethicists have sounded a note of caution about womb transplants...
Sperm donor scandal rocks US
Parents of donor-conceived children are suing a US sperm bank after it was discovered that one of the bank’s donors was a convicted criminal and...
Treatment disagreement gets ugly in Western Australia
A Perth hospital has obtained a court order to force chemotherapy on the child. The parents of a six-year-old West Australian boy have spoken of...