- Bioethics Forum Essay
On a Radioactive Pig and Pope Francis
Read the PostBioethics Forum Essay“If you look through the red-tinted glass, you will see the radioactive pig,” said the director of animal laboratories at my university–let’s call her Susan–near the start of my tour of the facility. There on a concrete floor, within a steel cage, was a large solitary sow, lying on her side...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
New in Skin Care: Natural and GMO
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayAt the end of April, the biotech firm Amyris announced that it was launching its own line of skin emollient under the brand name Biossance. The product is based on a hycrocarbon known as squalane that Amyris produces from sugarcane using genetically modified microorganisms and has sold to cosmetics m...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
GM Mosquitoes: Risks and Emotions
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayFor several years, a British company called Oxitec has been proposing a strategy for controlling a species of mosquito, Aedes aegypti, that humans have accidentally carried from Africa to other parts of the globe, thereby also spreading a risk of dengue fever and other diseases for which A. aegypti i...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
Altering Nature to Preserve It
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayPerhaps the biggest challenge in talking about something like de-extinction is simply being clear on what it is you’re really talking about. Emerging technologies can be surrounded with so much hoopla that one can lose sight of what the technologies actually accomplish.Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
Synthetic Biology: A Study in Reinvention
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayAn article in the October issue of Discover Magazine has a great line from Drew Endy, a bioengineer at Stanford University who has become one of the foremost public figures in the field of synthetic biology. It’s not his comment about how, someday, synthetic biology might allow us to create a m...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
Nature Isn’t What It Used To Be
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssayIs the end in sight for wilderness? A recent opinion piece in the New York Times, by the science journalist Christopher Solomon, says it is. “There’s a heresy echoing through America’s woods and wild places,” writes Solomon. “It’s a debate about how we should think about, and treat, ou...Read the Post - Bioethics Forum Essay
The Push for Data Transparency and Implications for Research
Read the PostBioethics Forum EssaySome of the most hotly debated questions making the rounds these days include who should interpret, distribute, review, and receive data, and with good reason. From WikiLeaks to National Security Agency whistleblowers, the problems of data privacy, data security, data accuracy, and data availabili...Read the Post