Should fat stigma be banned?
There is no rational defence for it, argues an American ethicist Fat stigma is pervasive in the United States (and other countries). In an era...
Bioethicists launch ‘Journal of Controversial Ideas’
Peter Singer is one of the founders One of the more innovative recent initiatives in academic publishing is the Journal of Controversial Ideas. Not a...
China may be building its massive DNA security database without citizens’ consent
Reports suggest that DNA samples are obtained from free medical check-ups China’s new high tech social credit system has garnered significant media attention in recent...
Great stories this week
Hi there, We have a range of interesting and provocative stories this week. In our lead, Australian doctors are in the eye of a political...
Australian doctors in firing line in stoush over asylum-seekers
New law gives medicos a pivotal role Australian doctors have become an integral part of a bitter political battle over how to process asylum-seekers. At...
Controversy dogs ‘assisted dying’ poll of UK doctors
Allegations that the Royal College of Physicians has been hijacked A controversial poll by the Royal College of Physicians, in the UK, is expected to...
Singer and Savulescu back germline editing
He Jiankui’s fundamental ethical misstep was exposing children to risk, not gene editing The debate continues over the ethics of genetically editing the genome and...
Embryo profiling could be a short-cut to ‘designer babies’
Technically feasible but ‘repugnant’, says one geneticist While genome modification for complex traits like IQ may be the stuff of science fiction, not science fact,...
Latest revelations about sperm donation secrets
From The Netherlands, Israel and the US It may be hard to wind up our readers’ interest in abuses of sperm donation after the news...
Consent not a defence, court tells body modification artist
Tongue-splitting is not ‘reasonable’ Dr Evil Dr Evil, a British body modification artist, has been found guilty of three counts of grievous bodily harm for...
Rights of the dead and the living clash when scientists extract DNA from human remains
Research on the dead ultimately affects the livingEgyptian mummy / AP The remains of a 6-inch long mummy from Chile are not those of a...
34 elderly are dead. Why haven’t you read about it?
What may turn out to be one of the biggest crimes in US history is being ignored Abuse of the disabled and elderly is a...