Ethics:
Let's assume imagine that there are good ways to handle all the worries about GM-crops in the world that I raised in my last post -- that there won't be collateral damage among the non-targeted species, that the targeted species won't become resistant, that the GM crops will be sufficiently isolated from non-GMO crops that their genes won't end up in the larger agricultural gene pool counted upon by seed savers and other non-corporate-licensee farmers. Let's further assume that the GM crops are nutritionally sound with no unforeseen consequences (e.g., allergic reactions) to those consuming them. Will the consumers want...
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 12:45 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Cloning
Germline modification isn't useful or needed as therapy. It makes sense for those who want to live in a GATTACA-like world of designer babies and genetic castes.
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Posted by Marcy Darnovsky at 7:20 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Ethics
Saying that changing one gene is going to drastically affect the human population is like saying peeing into the ocean will change the salt balance.
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Posted by Pamela Ronald at 3:17 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
With all the imaginative potential of new technologies like cloning (and stem cell research), there are some questions that seem mostly to fall out of the conversation. In the event that enough of the technical details were worked out that cloning's potential could be realized, the questions that haven't been getting the most attention may end up being the most important ones to face -- at least if we want cloning to be ethical. Let's start with the most speculative edge: reproductive cloning of humans, therapeutic cloning (or "cloning for spare parts") for humans, and the use of SCNT to...
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 2:44 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Cloning
Cloning has attracted an UFO cult, a former beauty queen who kidnapped a Mormon as a sex slave, and a scientific hero who turned out to be a fraud. Still, it's a mistake to dismiss the cloning endeavor as nothing but a freak show.
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Posted by Marcy Darnovsky at 5:25 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Cloning
The scientific and medical justifications for SCNT are getting weaker, and the social and ethical problems it raises aren't going away.
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Posted by Marcy Darnovsky at 4:03 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The reasons to worry about reproductive cloning might not be what you think.
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 1:32 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The post kicking off our discussion of stem cell research included the following questions: Much controversy has arisen over the question of whether or not it is ethical to use human embryonic stem cells for medical research since these cell lines are usually derived from a young (usually 4-5 day old) human embryo. There is some relatively new research that suggests these cells can be extracted without harming the embryo. ... [W]hat future do you see for the controversy surrounding stem cells- will new technologies allow scientists to bypass the ethical oppositions, or will they continue to struggle for legal...
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 3:27 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Ethics
This past spring, Germany eased its ban on stem cell research. Previous bans had set strict limits on the number and types of stem cell lines that scientists could use for their research. Specifically, German scientists were not allowed to create their own stem cell lines, but could import those created elsewhere before 2002. Now German scientists now can import lines created elsewhere before 2007, increasing those available from about 40 to 500. The promise of scientific research, cures for many debilitating diseases, and the desire to keep apace with stem cell research in Europe and Asia, prompted the German...
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Posted by Alexandra Stern at 11:18 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Stem cells
Those of you who know me from my own blog will know that I look at ethical issues in the practice of science and in the overlap between the tribe of science and the larger society in which scientists are imbedded. There are some scientific research projects that seem so esoteric, so far removed from practical issues about which non-scientists care, that the public can't seem to muster enthusiasm, interest, or even awareness. And then there's stem cell research....
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 3:16 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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