- Bioethics Forum Essay
Pursue Public Engagement, but Don’t Expect ‘Broad Societal Consensus’
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayA prominent group of scientists, bioethicists, and other specialists from around the world recently called for a global moratorium on clinical uses of human germline editing—“changing heritable DNA (in sperm, eggs or embryos) to make genetically modified children.” Before a country allows this...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
Chinese Bioethicists Respond to the Case of He Jiankui
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayA preliminary investigation by Guangdong Province in China of He Jiankui, the scientist who created the world’s first gene-edited babies, found that “He had intentionally dodged supervision, raised funds and organized researchers on his own to carry out the human embryo gene-editing intended for ...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
Do We Have a Moral Obligation to Genetically Enhance our Children?
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayThe Oxford philosopher Julian Savulescu, among others, has argued that prospective parents engaging in embryo selection using preimplantation genetic diagnosis not only may seek to have genetically enhanced children but are morally obligated do so. (See, for example, his essay “Procreative Benefice...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
Gene Editing, “Cultural Harms,” and Oversight Mechanisms
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayIs it reasonable to hope that concerns about “cultural harms” can be integrated into oversight mechanisms for technologies like gene editing? That question was raised anew for me by the recent National Academy of Sciences report on human genome editing and at a recent conference at Harvard on the...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
Why College Students Use Cognitive Enhancers: It’s Not Only about Grades
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayAs the school year winds down, it’s safe to assume that many college students used stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall to get through finals. While the students may have been motivated to improve their odds of getting good grades, a new study suggests that students’ reasons for taking sti...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
Federal Recommendations on Use of Cognitive Enhancers
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayThe idea that we can get better grades at school and advance our careers by taking drugs that improve concentration and other brain functions is at once controversial and tempting. Is this cheating, or is it in the same realm as drinking coffee to increase alertness? Bioethicists, medical professiona...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
The Drug that Cried “Feminism”
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayBranded as “The Little Pink Pill” and “Female Viagra,” flibanserin, Sprout Pharmaceuticals’ only drug, was recently resubmitted to the Food and Drug Administration for approval for hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), a questionable condition promoted by pharmaceutical companies to sel...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
Cognition Enhancement and Technological Unemployment
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayOne objection to the development of cognitive enhancers is that they are likely to benefit mainly people who can afford to buy them, and that they would put everyone else at a disadvantage. Some philosophers, including Allen Buchanan, Anders Sandberg, and Julian Savulescu, have said that cognitive en...Read the Post